Chawla takes 5 as UP fight to save relegation

Domestic heavyweights Uttar Pradesh will need 218 runs on the final day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match against Railways in order to save the relegation to group C.
After scoring a crucial 73 to take UP to a respectable 292 in their first innings, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (5/67) then played a big part in dismissing Railways for 189 in their second essay thereby keeping the overall lead of the hosts to a manageable 242 runs. Railways had a first innings lead of 53 runs.
UP were 25 for no loss at stumps on the third day and would now go all out for an outright victory which would take their points tally to 15 and help them beat the drop.

In case UP wins, then it will be between Jammu and Kashmir and Bengal. J&K have already finished their engagements at 12 points from eight games, while Bengal, who are on 12 points from seven games are also in the drop zone in case they lose by an innings to Madhya Pradesh, possibilities of which are quite high.
Railways today had a lower order collapse as they lost their last five wickets for 10 runs from a comfortable 179 for five to 189 all out in 62.3 overs.
Likes of Anushtup Majumdar (40), Mahesh Rawat (27), Ashish Yadav (25) all got starts but couldn't convert.

While Chawla started the Railways slump after an opening partnership of 63 between Majumdar and Abhishek Kaushik (24), left-arm seamer RP Singh (2/54) and chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) also played their part effectively.

Brief Scores:
Railways 345 and 189 (Anushtup Majumdar 40, Piyush Chawla 5/67)
UP 292 (Mohammed Saif 86, Piyush Chawla 73, Ranjit Mali 5/67) and (target 243) 25/0.