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 in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Put in to bat, Plate 'A' started on a disastrous note, losing three quick wickets for 37 runs, as speedsters Ajit Agarkar, S K Trivedi and Amit Bhanari bowled a tight line and length in their opening spells.

Abhijit Kale, selected for the tri-nation series in Dhaka next week, stemmed the rot along with Yashpal Singh in a brilliant 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Yashpal was out after scoring a watchful 33 from 105 deliveries.

Kale went on to compile 59 runs for the fifth wicket with Rajeev Kumar to help stabilise the innings but fell short of a well-deserved century by two runs.

He struck 19 fours in his brilliant 178-ball knock, which spanned 239 minutes and negotiated some fine deliveries from Agarkar and Nilesh Kulkarni with sublime ease.

Rajeev Kumar, with an unbeaten 47, was at the crease along with Ananthapadmanabhan (3) when stumps were drawn.

Trivedi, who opened the bowling, claimed 3 wickets for 48 runs while Amit Bhandari took two for 55.

Young India 'keeper Parthiv Patel took four catches and was responsible for the dismissals of Barrington (17), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (5), VST Naidu (11) and Dodda Ganesh (10).

Scoreboard:

Plate 'A' 1st innings:

 R Barrington c Patel b Trivedi              17

 R Jaswal b Trivedi                               6

 H Kanitkar c Patel b Bhandari             5

 A Kale c Yere Goud b Bhandari          98

Yashpal Singh c Trivedi b Kulkarni      33

 Rajeev Kumar batting                          47

 V S T Naidu c Patel b Das                  11

S Joshi c and b Agarkar                      1

D Ganesh c Patel b Trivedi                  10

K Ananthpadmanabhan                       3

Extras (lb-6, w-2, nb-2)                      10

Total (for 8 wkts, 90 overs)                 241

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-33, 3-37, 4-124, 5-183, 6-205, 7-216, 8-238

Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 22-5-60-1, S K Trivedi 22-5-48-3, Amit Bhandari 22-4-55-2, Nilesh Kulkarni 20-6-60-1, S S Das 2-0-3-1, Yere Goud 2-0-9-0.