Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 11 (PTI): Wicketkeeper-batsman Upendra Singh Yadav hammered an unbeaten 41-ball 70 (4 fours, 5 sixes) to power Uttar Pradesh to a five-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in a Group 'B' match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament here on Monday.

Earlier, sent into bat Tamil Nadu made 168 for 7 in the quota of 20 overs, thanks to a brisk knock of 61 by skipper Dinesh Karthik and a half-century by the stylish opener M Vijay (51).

In reply, Upendra Yadav kept the team in the hunt with his attacking strokeplay and a 52-run fourth-wicket partnership with Shubham Chaubey (35) was instrumental in UP securing victory with a ball to spare.

In the Tamil Nadu innings, the experience of Vijay and Karthik came to the fore as the duo forged a 75-run stand for the second wicket after opener N Jagadeesan (2) fell early.

Vijay started off with a flurry of boundaries before settling down and proving to be a good foil for his captain.

Karthik, meanwhile, was in his element, as he smote 5 fours and 4 huge sixes.

However, Tamil Nadu frittered away the platform provided by Karthik and Vijay and save for Vijay Shankar (28, 14 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes), the others could not help the team put up a bigger score.

UP got off to a steady start with openers Akshdeep Nath (25, 28 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) and captain Samarth Singh (21, 15 balls, 1 fours, 2 sixes) negotiating probing spells from T Natarajan and G Periyaswamy.

Upendra Yadav, who came in at the fall of Samarth, upped the ante with some aggressive batting and the Tamil Nadu bowlers couldn't find a way to dislodge him.

He stayed till the end to see the team home, inflicting Tamil Nadu's first defeat (after two wins).

Meanwhile, Vidarbha beat Manipur by 70 runs for a third straight win. The two-time Ranji Trophy champion leads Group B with 12 points from three games.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 150 for 6 in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 73 not out, Rushabh Rathod 25) beat Manipur 80 for 9 in 20 overs (Sagatpam Singh 36, Yash Thakur 4/5, DG Nalkande 2/15).

Vidarbha: 4 points, Manipur: 0.

Tamil Nadu 168 for 7 in 20 overs (Dinesh Karthik 61, Murali Vijay 51, Vijay Shankar 28, Moshin Khan 2/13, Ankit Rajpoor 2/35, Kuldeep Yadav 2/37) lost to Uttar Pradesh 174 for 5 in 19.5 overs (Upendra Singh Yadav 70 not out, Shubham Sanjay Chaubey 35, Akshdeep Nath 25, G Periyaswamy 2/35).

UP: 4 points, TN: 0.

Kerala 191 for 7 in 20 overs (Sachin Baby 58, Rohan Kunnummal 30, M B Mura Singh 2/42, Ajay Sarkar 2/52) beat Tripura 177 for 8 in 20 overs (Milind Kumar 54, Udiyan Bose 27, Mura Singh 27, Jalaj Saxena 4/26). Kerala: 4 points, Tripura: 0.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)