LUCKNOW, Jan. 24 -- Sparkling half centuries by Kavya Teotia and Rituraj Sharma helped favourites Uttar Pradesh off to a fine start against hosts Chhattisgarh in their Elite Group D encounter of the Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy at Bhiali on Friday, posting a challenging 323/7 in their first innings. Both Teotia and Sharma, who were key batters in UP's runners-up finish in the Men's Under-23 State A Trophy last December, played responsible innings and stitched together 148 runs for the third wicket as Uttar Pradesh posted a respectable total in 90 overs at 3.59. Whereas Teotia struck 89 in 175 balls with the help of seven hits to the fence, Sharma hit 10 boundaries and three mighty sixes in his 127-ball 88. Both fell prey to spinner Deepak Yadav. Keeper-batter Kaartikaya Singh and Akshu Bajwa were the crease at the draw of stumps. Even in absence of their star performers of the season, including regular skipper Sameer Rizvi, Uttar Pradesh got off to a fine start as skipper Adarsh Singh and Deepak Rana stitched together 50 runs in just 11 overs for the first wicket while batting first after winning the toss. Ex-India Under-19 World Cupper Singh was first to go after being bowled by Deepak Yadav after scoring 41-ball 25 with the help of five boundaries. Rana departed soon after scoring 35 in 41 balls with the help of seven boundaries, but thereafter both Teotia and Sharma held the innings together, hammering Chhattisgarh bowlers all around the ground at the Sector 10 BSP Cricket Stadium. In fact, Sharma's departure in the 54th over didn't make much of a difference for young Teotia, who kept his willow do the talking even then and added 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Ali Zafar Mohsin, who made 21 in 35 balls with the help of three hits to the fence after Mohd Amaan (11, 12b, 2x4) was caught by Rahul Pradhan off Varun Singh Bhule. Uttar Pradesh also lost their bowling all-rounder Shubham Mishra (4) in the third and final session of Day One's game, but unbeaten batters Singh and Bajwa kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 59 for the eight wicket. For Chhattisgarh, all seven UP wickets were shared by the spinners as Deepak Yadav finished with 5/84, and Varun Singh Bhuie bagged 2/64. However, UP's chief coach Gyanendra Pandey expressed satisfaction over teams' opening day show in the crucial encounter. "Both Teotia and Sharma played their part nicely and I have a lot of confidence in Kaartikaya and Akshu to build the innings further as they have been stroking the ball nicely," UP's chief coach Gyanendra Pandey said at the end of day's play. "We need to post a big total on this turning track as I feel that as the game progresses, it would be more spinner friendly," he added....