Hyderabad: Despite a defiant 98 by Abhijit Kale, star-studded Elite 'C' restricted Plate 'A' to 241 for 8 on the opening day of the four-day Duleep Trophy match at the Gymkhana grounds on Thursday. Put in to bat, Plate 'A' started on a disastrous note losing three quick wickets for 37 runs with speedsters Ajit Agarkar, SK Trivedi and Amit Bhanari bowling a tight line and length in their opening spells. Abhijit Kale stemmed the rot by pairing with Yashpal Singh to script a brilliant 87 run essay for the fourth wicket before Yashpal was out for a very watchful 33 earned by facing 105 deliveries. The day's hero, Kale then went on to compile 59 runs for the fifth wicket with Rajeev Kumar to stabilise the innings but fell short of his century by two runs. Kale struck 19 fours in his brilliant knock of 98 off 178 balls during his 239 minute stay at the wicket and negotiated some of the finest deliveries from Agarkar and Nilesh Kulkarni with ease. Rajeev Kumar with an unbeaten 47 was at the crease along with Ananthapadmanabhan (3) when stumps were drawn. New ball bowler SK Trivedi claimed 3 wickets for 48 runs while Amit Bhandari took two for 55 for Elite 'C'. Agarkar, Triwedi and Bhandari justified skipper SS Das' decision to field first by their fiery bowling early in the day.
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