Ishan Porel (5/35) starred with the ball in his comeback game, but Bengal batsmen bungled once again.

Courtesy Porel and his pace colleague Pritam Chakraborty (3/63), who’s playing his first first-class game in almost eight years, Bengal bowled Uttar Pradesh out for a paltry 198 after inserting the visitors in on a pace-friendly wicket at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

But the response from their batsmen was poor as Uttar Pradesh left them reeling at 29 for 4 at stumps on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy opener. In a nutshell, it’s Uttar Pradesh’s players with IPL experience — Priyam Garg (53), Rinku Singh (79) and pacer Shivam Mavi (3/14) — who have troubled Bengal so far in this game.

Early on, it was Garg and Rinku whose 89-run fourth-wicket stand helped the visitors recover a little bit after Bengal had them wobbling at 26/3. But Mavi dismissed Abhishek Das, Koushik Ghosh and Sudip Gharami, putting the pressure right back on the home team.

The current situation requires nightwatchman Chakraborty (12 batting) and all-rounder Sayan Sekhar Mondal (4 batting) to remain unscathed at least till the end of first hour on Wednesday.

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 198 (R. Singh 79, P. Garg 53; I. Porel 5/35). Bengal 29/4 (S. Mavi 3/14). At stumps, Day 1.