Nagpur: Medium pacer Praveen Kumar took three wickets as Tamil Nadu were restricted to 445 on Day two of their Ranji Trophy semi-final match against Uttar Pradesh.

Resuming at the overnight score of 296 for the loss of 2 wickets, Tamil Nadu team lost the momentum in the in the very first session of the play. Praveen took the key scalp of S Badrinath after the batsman had added just six runs to his overnight score. The right hand batsman scored a well made 65 runs. Praveen then sent back Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik(72) and S S Kumar(12).

However, arrival of C Ganapathy at the wicket changed the complexion of the game to a great extent. Ganapathy reached his half-century in 122 deliveries, including eight boundaries. He scored an unbeaten 67 as Tamil Nadu put a heathy score on the board. The ninth-wicket partnership frustrated UP for nearly one and half hours, during which UP skipper Kaif tried all the bowlers. Finally it was Suresh Raina who got the much required breakthrough for his team in his second over of the match. For Tamil Nadu, lower order batsman like Balaji scored 30 and C Suresh scored a crucial 48 runs for the team. Along with Praveen Kumar, Imtiyaz Ahmad was the other successful bowler for the team. Imtiyaz picked up two crucial wickets for the team.

Scores in Brief:

Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 445 all out (Mukund 100, Karthik 72, Vijay 69, Ganapathy 67 n. o., Praveen 3/104, Imtiyaz 2/74.)

Uttar Pradesh (1st innings): 25/1 (SS Shukla batting 10, Raina batting 13, C Ganapathy 1/4).