LUCKNOW, Feb. 13 -- Opener Varnika smashed a fine century whereas spinner Sandhya Chhetri took four wickets to help former runners-up Uttar Pradesh notch up a convincing 64-run win over Madhya Pradesh and kept their hopes alive for a berth in the knockout of the Senior Women's One Day Trophy on Thursday. Varnika smashed 107 in 94 balls with the help of 18 boundaries and two sixes as Uttar Pradesh posted 285 in 48.5 overs while batting first after winning the toss. In reply, Madhya Pradesh could score 221 in 46.2 overs. Showing a lot of resilience and determination in her batting style, left-hand opener Varnika along with fellow opener Sampada Dixit set the tone for the team's big total, stitching together 177 runs for the first wicket after skipper Archana Devi chose to bat first after winning the toss. The two kept stroking the ball nicely all around the Niranjan Shah stadium Ground C in Rajkot. Both remained aggressive in their approach. Dixit, who had a century in the previous match, too showed a lot of temperament in her 83-ball 62, which contained eight hits to the fence. There was a quick fall as soon as the two departed in quick succession as Muskan Malik (1), Anjali Singh (14), Archana Devi (10) and keeper-batter Nishi Kashyap (11) returned home early. However, a crucial 46-run stand for the seventh wicket between Sonali Singh (25, 24b, 4x4) and Arju (22, 18b, 2x4, 1x6) revived the innings. For Madhya Pradesh, Aayushi Shukla (3/46), Suchi Upadhyay (3/79), Sanskriti Gupta (2/46) and Priyam Kaushal (2/60) shared all 10 wickets. In reply, Madhya Pradesh found themselves in trouble as they lost opener Jincy George (1) being run out in the very third over. But a 72-run second wicket stand between opener Aayushi Shukla (56, 64b, 7x4) and Ananya Dubey (38, 60b, 4x4) helped the side bounce back into contention. In fact, Madhya Pradesh looked almost cruising home with the scoreboard reading 136/4 in 28.3 overs. Indian women's team regular Pooja Vastrakar then struck 81-ball 67 with the help of eight boundaries and added 64 runs for the fifth wicket with Tamanna Choudhary (34, 38b, 4x4). But two left-arm spinners from Lucknow, Sandhya Chhetri and Shilpi Yadav kept mesmerizing Madhya Pradesh batters with their quick turns. Whereas Chhetri finished with 4/38, Yadav chipped in with 2/33. Arju and Archana Devi shared two wickets between them. Now with their second win in as many four matches so far in Elite Group A, Uttar Pradesh stand at the fourth position with eight points in the eight-team event. They will now be playing against hosts Baroda in their next league match on Saturday....