Bengal were restricted to 176 for six off 99 overs at close of play on the opening day of their Vijay Merchant under-16 knock-out quarterfinal match against Uttar Pradesh at Narendrapur, near Kolkata on Saturday.

Bengal actually failed to capitalise on a good start after they won the toss. Openers Ajay Garai and Mayukh Biswas put on 34 runs off 9.5 overs. Then Biswas and Abhishek Chakravarthy (34) added 63 runs for the second wicket off 31.2 overs. But after being 133 for two at one stage, Bengal lost considerable ground in the last session. Biswas batted patiently for 320 minutes for his 70. He faced 270 balls and hit eleven fours and a six. The bowling honours were cornered by Praveen Gupta who finished with the remarkable figures of 30-21-19-3.

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