Middle-order batsmen Sumit Tomar (43) and Yashpal Singh (65) defied Uttar Pradesh's bowlers and guided Services to 207 for 5 on the opening day of 'Elite' Group 'B' Ranji Trophy league match at the K D Singh Babu stadium in Lucknow on Friday.

Opting to bat first, Services openers Narendra Singh and P M S Reddy did not last long.

- Ranji Trophy 2005-06: Complete coverage

Medium pacer Praveen Kumar drew first blood, claiming the prized wicket of Reddy on a delivery that kept low. Wicketkeeper Amir Khan committed no mistake to hold the catch.

Veteran UP bowler A W Zaidi only added to the Services' misery in his fourth over, trapping Narendra Singh in front of the stumps. The umpire did not hesitate to give a decision in UP's favour.

Tomar and Yashapl then provided their team some, tackling the UP bowlers well.

Leg spinner Piyush Chawla (3-65) was the pick of the Services bowlers. He broke the set partnership of Sumit and Yashapl. Again -- at the fag end of the day's play -- he was instrumental in breaking another partnership between Jaswinder Singh and skipper Sarabjit Singh, clean bowling the former on his individual score of 33.

At draw of stumps, Sarabjit and A K Mohanty were unbeaten with the total 207 for the loss of five wickets after 91 overs.

Scorecard

Services (1st innings):
Narendra Singh lbw W Zaidi 14
PMS Reddy c Amir b Praveen 3
Sumit Tomar c Jyoti b Chawla 43
Yashpal Singh b Chawla 65
Jaswinder Singh b Chawla 33
Sarabjit Singh batting 17
A K Mohanty batting 12.
Total: (for five wickets in 91 overs) 207
Extras: (b 5, lb 3, nb 7, w 5) 20.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-24, 3-98, 4-162, 5-185.

Bowling: A W Zaidi 19-4-49-1, Praveen Kumar 19-8-38-1, Chawla 27-4-65-3, Avinash Yadav 22-3-51-0, S Raina 3-0-5-0, Jyoti Yadav 1-0-1-0.