Uttar Pradesh scored a mammoth 433 runs in their first innings in the Elite 'B' Pool Ranji trophy match against visiting Punjab at the K D Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
At the close of play, the visitors had reached 70 for three, still needing 213 more runs to avoid follow-on.
Uttar Pradesh lost Mohammed Amir (19) and Gyanendra Pandey soon after they resumed the day on 242 for five.
Thereafter, the tailenders dispalyed offered some resistance to take the hosts past 400.
Leg spinner Piyush Chawla (57) and medium pacer Praveen Kumar (71) thwarted the Punjab's gameplan to dislodge them early.
Avinash Yadav, playing only his second game of Ranji Trophy, also scored in valuable 31 runs.
Punjab started cautiously in face of the huge total and played under pressure, which cost them two quick wickets to veteran medium pacer A W Zaidi.
Pankaj Dharmani (13) and Ratinder Singh Sodhi (6) were unbeaten when the play ended two early due to bad light.
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh 1st innings
R Prakash c Ricky b Sandhu 12
J Yadav lbw b Sodhi 14
S Raina st Dharmani b Rajesh Sharma 127
R Shamshad lbw b Rajesh Sharma 16
R Shukla st Dharmani b Bipul Sharma 35
G Pandey c Dharmani b Sodhi 38
Amir Khan c Dharmani b Sandhu 19
P Chawla c Mongia b Rajesh Sharma 57
P Kumar lbw b Sandhu 70
A Yadav c Mongia b Bipul Sharma 31
A Zaidi not out 1
Extras (b 2, lb 6, w 1, nb 4) 13
Total (all out, 147.5 overs, 636 mins) 433
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-72, 3-139, 4-211, 5-211, 6-248, 7-286, 8-379, 9-431, 10-433
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 32 6 86 0, Sandhu 32 7 101 3, Sodhi 24 3 82 2 (3nb, 1w), Rajesh Sharma 38 7 112 3, Bipul Sharma 13.5 5 32 2, Ricky 4 1 7 0, Mongia 4 1 5 0 (1nb)
Punjab 1st innings
R Ricky c Raina b Zaidi 20
M Sharma lbw b Zaidi 1
U Kaul c Prakash b Piyush Chawla 25
P Dharmani not out 13
RS Sodhi not out 6
Extras (nb 5) 5
Total (3 wickets, 30 overs) 70
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-39, 3-58.
Bowling: Zaidi 8 0 14 2, Kumar 7 1 31 0 (5nb), Piyush Chawla 10 4 17 1, Avinash Yadav 5 2 8 0
UNI