A 136-run fifth wicket partnership between Gyanendra Pandey (75) and Suresh Raina (66) helped hosts Uttar Pradesh reach 179 for 4 on the opening day of the four-day Elite group 'A' Ranji Trophy match against Andhra in Kanpur on Tuesday.

Earlier, start of the play was delayed by one hour due to foggy weather.

Rohit Prakash and Jyoti Yadav opened the innings for Uttar Pradesh but Andhra struck quickly. Yadav (6) made an exit when he was caught by Venugopal Rao off Shahabuddin while the total was only 15 in 6.1 overs.

Mohammed Kaif came to replace Yadav but could not impress and was caught by M S K Prasad off Shahabuddin with his individual score of four.

Uttar Pradesh were 43 for three at lunch which came in 90 minutes in 17 overs play.

At lunch, Suresh Raina was at 10 and Shamshad Rizwan was at four. Rizwan was sent back to pavilion after the lunch without adding any runs to his score.

Uttar Pradesh were at a precarious position as they had lost four wickets at the score of 43 runs. But Raina and Pandey combined well and batted sensibly to take the score to 179 at close.