LUCKNOW, Dec. 9 -- Pacer Aayan Akram and K Krishna bowled superbly to help former champions Uttar Pradesh off to a fine start against hosts Assam in their Elite Group D encounter of the Cooch Behar Trophy on Monday. Akram took 5/46, whereas Krishna bagged 3/24 as Uttar Pradesh floored Assam for 138 in their first innings, at the Mangaldai Sports Association Stadium at Mangaldai. In reply, Uttar Pradesgh were sitting pretty at 102/3 in 32 overs in their first innings. They still need 37 runs to cross over Assam's first innings total. Skipper Bhavy Goyal and Anmol Noushran stitched together 44 runs for the opening wicket to give a solid start to Uttar Pradesh's innings. But then, the side lost quick wickets of Noushran (19), Rahul (11) and Bhavi Sharma (19), but Goyal stood tall with an unbeaten 43, which came off 89 balls with the help of seven hits to the fence. Earlier, Assam despite having a good start, lost the track and were reduced to 6/103 before being bowled out in 52 overs. Barring opener Tushar Rudra Borah (37), Barun Jyoti Malakar (19) and captain Dipankar Paul (33*), no other batter could touch the double-figure mark before Akram and Krishna. Ravi Saini took 1/12. Half centuries by Hitesh Kumar, Arush Gupta and captain Aalok Kumar helped former champions Uttar Pradesh score 288/9 on Day One of their three-day Elite Group A encounter of the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy at Shimoga. Despite being sent to bat first by the hosts, Uttar Pradesh batters made full use of the placid turf of the KSCA Navule Stadium. Opener Hitesh Kumar along with Ayansh Sanu (30) added 62 runs for the opening wicket. He also collected 110 runs for the second wicket with Arush Gupta. Kumar scored 129-ball 75 with the help of 10 hits to the fence, whereas Gupta made 66 in 74 balls, laced with eight boundaries. There were some quick falls thereafter as Uttar pradesh lost Anay awasthi (9), Garv Mittal (8), Aryan Tyagi (25), skipper and keeper Aalok played sensible, hitting 79-ball 50 with the help of five hits to the fence. Krishna Yadav (12) and Arjun Pathania (0) were at the crease at the draw of stumps on Monday. Pacer Tuhin Debnath took 3/62, whereas Chandrasnata Goswami and Arish Majumdar shared four wickets between them....