Rain came to the rescue of Uttar Pradesh on the third day of the Ranji Trophy match in Thumba with Kerala in a strong position to secure an innings win.
UP were 66/2 in 18 overs, trailing by 167 runs when rain in Kerala's capital city led to significant loss of overs. Madhav Kaushik (27) and Nitish Rana (5) were unbeaten at stumps on the third day.
If rain doesn't play spoilsport on Saturday, the final day of the match, Kerala should be going all out to make it two wins in a row at home. Kerala had beaten Punjab in their opener.
Earlier on the day, Salman Nizar was unlucky to miss out on his maiden first-class century when he was dismissed by Aaqib Khan for 93. The left-hander had resumed the day at 74 with Kerala at 340/7 in response to UP's first innings score of 162.
Brief scores: UP 162 & 66/2 in 18 overs (Madhav Kaushik 27 not out) vs Kerala 395 in 124.1 overs (Salman Nizar 93, Sachin Baby 83, Mohammed Azharuddeen 40, Aaqib Khan 3/61, Shivam Mavi 2/75, Shivam Sharma 2/77, Saurabh Kumar 2/84) stumps day three.

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