Punjab made a bad start, made a recovery of sorts through a fifth wicket partnership of 52 runs and then slid again to be dismissed for 160 off 87.1 overs at stumps on the opening day of their three day Vijay Merchant knock out tournament (under-16) semifinal against Uttar Pradesh at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Electing to bat, Punjab ran into trouble early. Openers Tavish Gupta (8) and Varun Gupta (7) fell with only 22 runs on the board. Worse was to follow as Vishwas Bhalla (4) and Rahul Arora (10) fell to Praveen Gupta and Punjab were 61 for four.

Vipul Sharma (49) and Gourav Gupta (51) added 52 runs for the fifth wicket off 21.3 overs but just as Punjab were breathing a bit more freely, Vipul Sharma was leg before to Rahat Ilahi. He faced 142 balls and hit four of them to the ropes. Praveen Gupta and Rahat Iralhi then got among the wickets as Punjab lost their last six wickets for 47 runs off 24.4 overs. Ilahi took two for nine off nine overs while Praveen Gupta was the wrecker-in-chief taking five for 50 off 23.1 overs. The gallant Gourav Gupta was eighth out at 150. He faced 101 balls and hit four fours and a six. It now remains to be seen whether Punjab's modest score can keep them in the fight.

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