Siddharth’s ton guides UP to 357/7 against Pondicherry

Lucknow: Left-hand batter Siddharth Yadav smashed an unbeaten century to guide Uttar Pradesh to a good total of 357/7 in 75.4 overs on the third day of Col CK Nayudu Trophy at Seth Anandram Jaipuria Ground on Tuesday. In the first innings, Pondicherry had posted 230. The home team has a lead of 127 runs.Initially, the UP batters had a tough time as they lost the first wicket of Harsh Tyagi in the fifth ball of first over but right-hand batter Swastik Chikara collected 98 runs off 109 deliveries with the help of two sixes and nine boundaries. Rituraj Sharma (68) also got a half-century before he lost his wicket to Pooviarasan in 34th over, when the team’s score was 2-157 runs. Swastik missed his century by two runs and had a 156-run partnership off 204 balls with Rituraj Sharma.UP’s wicketkeeper Aaradhya Yadav could not open account while Aaditya Sharma scored 19 runs off 32 deliveries and lost his wicket to Satish Sharma. Left-hand batter Siddharth Yadav played a brilliant knock and completed his century off 104 balls with the help of nine boundaries and a six. Shiven Malhotra (10) was at the crease when UP declared the innings. Krityagya Singh (27) and Vipraj Nigam (15) also helped pull the score. For Pondicherry, Pooviarasan took three wickets, Naman Satish Sharma bagged two wickets and Kamaleeshwaran and Nitin Pranaav V claimed one wicket each. In the second innings, Pondicherry were zero for no loss in two overs. Jashwanth Shreeram and wicketkeeper Sunil Bishnoi were on the crease when the day ended.