LUCKNOW, Jan. 23 -- There was a lot of appreciation for experienced pacer Shivam Mavi from the dugout, especially when his odd deliveries with the new ball beat Jharkhand openers outside the off stump on Thursday. This happened a number of times on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here. But at the end of the day, it was Jharkhand, who stood tall with a handsome 279/1 on the board. Barring a few chances, including an easy run out, Uttar Pradesh bowlers went through a tough day on the first day of the match, which they need to win at all cost with a bonus point to keep their hopes alive for the knockouts. Despite managing a wicket in the middle of the session, they remained a frustrated lot on home turf at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. An unbeaten century by Sharandeep Singh and another powerful unbeaten half century by Aryaman Sen kept teasing the Uttar Pradesh bowlers on a green turf as they failed to impress the Jharkhand batters even with the second new ball. Reshuffling players between their Ranji Trophy and Under-23 sides, including drafting all-rounder Prashant Veer in the Playing XI against Jharkhand, didn't make a difference as the left-arm bowler sustained a shoulder injury just before lunch and remained absent throughout the day. All three seamers including Mavi, Kunal Tyagi and Siddarth Yadav could hardly bother Jharkhand batters in familiar conditions. Spinners Vipraj Nigam and Kartik Tyagi remained busy in containing runs. Keeping young spinner Zeeshan Ansari out of the XI also caused a big set back on UP's game plan. He had taken 21 wickets in the just concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Nothing went right for Uttar Pradesh from the word go as pacers failed to live up to the expectations of skipper Aryan Juyal who chose to field. Keeper Aaditya Sharma was off-colour, missing several easy collections, besides dropping a sitter early. The right-and-left combination of Sharandeep and Shikhar Mohan kept UP bowlers at bay as they stitched together 147 runs for the first wicket. The two rotated the strike at ease as the pitch lacked assistance for the pacers as Jharkhand went for lunch at 95/0 in 30 overs with Sharandeep and Shikhar batting at 49 and 40, respectively. Things didn't change much even after the break as both batters continued to hit Uttar Pradesh bowlers with consummate ease. This time, Shikhar looked more attacking, and before being trapped lbw off Nigam, the right-hander struck his second first-class half-century in six matches. His 123-ball 78 was studded with 10 boundaries and two sixes. However, the first breakthrough in the second session had Uttar Pradesh bowlers excited as they hoped for some more wickets. But that remained a distant dream as Sharandeep along with Sen continued to defy them. Sharandeep completed his hundred off 223 balls with the help of 11 boundaries. Undoubtedly, Jamshedpur-born Sharnadeep showed his might with the willow while coming back into action after playing his last first-class match in November when he scored 115 and 65 in two innings against Andhra on home turf. Thursday's knock of 128 in 269 balls with the help of 15 boundaries was his second century in 12 first-class matches. Given the situation, it looks a difficult task for the home side to contain Jharkhand batters at the moment. Juyal and Co will be required to come with Plan B when Day 2 begins on Friday as the weather Gods have predicted rains this weekend....