Ranji Trophy: Karnataka in command

Uttar Pradesh rode on dropped catches and sloppy fielding as Parvinder Singh (92, 181b, 13x4) and Piyush Chawla (56, 99b, 5x4) put on 110 runs for the seventh wicket to help the visitors reach 221 for nine against Karnataka at the end of second day's play in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match here Thursday.

Karnataka, resuming at their overnight score of 297 for five, were dismissed for 349 with CM Gautam completing his century (100, 118b, 16x4) before becoming one of seamer Amit Mishra's six victims.

In reply, Uttar Pradesh were struggling on 65 for six before Parvinder and Chawla came up with the rescue act.

For Karnataka, pacer Abhimanyu Mithun came away with four for 70, but left the field for a brief while during his 18th over, but returned soon after medical treatment.

Chawla, dropped early in his patient knock, eventually fell to Mithun, edging to wicket-keeper CM Gautam who made no mistake.

In the last over of the day, Parvinder was dismissed when centurion Robin Uthappa, bowling gentle seamers, induced a snick to Gautam, who had dropped two catches earlier.

The home team all but let Uttar Pradesh off the hook. Both Parvinder and Chawla prospered due to a series of dropped catches, a stumping chance and generally wayward fielding, but the visitors finished the day still 128 runs in arrears.

Skipper Vinay Kumar, who started the rout, picked up three wickets while the other new ball bowler Sharath HS took one in the 10 overs that he bowled before leaving the field with an injury while fielding.

Brief scores: Karnataka 349 all out (Robin Uthappa 100, Karun Nair 100; Amit Mishra 6/106) vs Uttar Pradesh 221/9 in first innings (Parvinder Singh 92, Piyush Chawla 56; R Vinay Kumar 3/49, Abhimanyu Mithun 4/70).