A first wicket partnership of 106 runs laid the foundation for Bihar hitting 199 for four off 94 overs at close of play on the first day of their Cooch Behar Trophy semifinal against Delhi at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Sunday.

Adopting a cautious approach, openers Ratan Kumar (70) and S Vig (31) took 50.5 overs to score the runs. Ratan Kumar was the first to leave, being caught by Mohan off Suheil Sharma. He batted 3-3/4 hours, faced 159 balls and hit eleven fours. Suheil Sharma struck again in his next over when he had F Khan caught by Mohan for one. Without any addition to the score, Vig gave A Bedi a return catch. The obdurate Vig was at the crease for 223 minutes. He faced 163 balls and did not even hit one boundary.

From 106 for no loss, Bihar had slumped to 108 for three. However A Hashmi and Manish Kumar got the innings going again with a fourth wicket partnership of 54 runs off 26.5 overs before Hashmi was bowled by Gupta for 22. Manish Kumar (36) and T Pratap (30) then added another 37 runs during an unbroken fifth wicket association. While Manish Kumar batted patiently, facing 104 balls and hitting four boundaries, Pratap was more aggressive, getting his runs off only 32 balls with five hits to the ropes.

© CricInfo