<p>Suresh Raina's half-century and a three-wicket effort from Bhuvneshwar Kumar went in vain as Punjab defended a modest 134 against Uttar Pradesh in their opening match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Punjab posted 134 for seven in a Group A game with opener and wicketkeeper Simran Singh scoring 43 off 41 balls. Anmolpreet Singh (35 off 27) was another batsman who made a valuable contribution.</p>.<p>Bhuvneshwar, who had to pull out of the IPL with a thigh muscle injury, was impressive in his comeback game, returning with figures of three for 22 in four overs.</p>.<p>However, UP fell short of the target and ended at 123 for five in 20 overs to lose by 11 runs.</p>.<p>Raina, playing his first competitive game in over 18 months, made an unbeaten 56 off 40 balls but it wasn't enough to take his team over the line.</p>.<p>The southpaw, who announced his retirement alongside M S Dhoni on August 15 last year, had pulled out of the IPL due to personal reasons after travelling to Dubai with the rest of the CSK squad.</p>.<p>Brief Scores:</p>.<p>Punjab 134/7 in 20 overs (Simran Singh 43; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/22, Ankit Rajpoot 2/28).</p>.<p>UP: 123/5 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 56 not out; Siddarth Kaul 2/28). Punjab won by 11 runs.</p>.<p>Other brief scores: Karnataka 150/5 in 20 overs (KL Shrijith 48 not out; Parvez Rasool 2/18). J&K 107 all out 18.4 overs (Abdul Samad 30; Abhimanyu Mithun 2/24, J Suchith 2/17, K Gowtham 2/13). Karnataka won by 43 runs.</p>.<p>Tripura 170/3 in 20 overs (Milind Kumar 61; Karn Sharma 1/23). Railways 173/4 in 19.3 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 61 not out; Sankar Paul 3/17). Railways won by six wickets.</p>
<p>Suresh Raina's half-century and a three-wicket effort from Bhuvneshwar Kumar went in vain as Punjab defended a modest 134 against Uttar Pradesh in their opening match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Punjab posted 134 for seven in a Group A game with opener and wicketkeeper Simran Singh scoring 43 off 41 balls. Anmolpreet Singh (35 off 27) was another batsman who made a valuable contribution.</p>.<p>Bhuvneshwar, who had to pull out of the IPL with a thigh muscle injury, was impressive in his comeback game, returning with figures of three for 22 in four overs.</p>.<p>However, UP fell short of the target and ended at 123 for five in 20 overs to lose by 11 runs.</p>.<p>Raina, playing his first competitive game in over 18 months, made an unbeaten 56 off 40 balls but it wasn't enough to take his team over the line.</p>.<p>The southpaw, who announced his retirement alongside M S Dhoni on August 15 last year, had pulled out of the IPL due to personal reasons after travelling to Dubai with the rest of the CSK squad.</p>.<p>Brief Scores:</p>.<p>Punjab 134/7 in 20 overs (Simran Singh 43; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/22, Ankit Rajpoot 2/28).</p>.<p>UP: 123/5 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 56 not out; Siddarth Kaul 2/28). Punjab won by 11 runs.</p>.<p>Other brief scores: Karnataka 150/5 in 20 overs (KL Shrijith 48 not out; Parvez Rasool 2/18). J&K 107 all out 18.4 overs (Abdul Samad 30; Abhimanyu Mithun 2/24, J Suchith 2/17, K Gowtham 2/13). Karnataka won by 43 runs.</p>.<p>Tripura 170/3 in 20 overs (Milind Kumar 61; Karn Sharma 1/23). Railways 173/4 in 19.3 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 61 not out; Sankar Paul 3/17). Railways won by six wickets.</p>