Bengal seamers led by Ashok Dinda brought their team back in the match by blowing away Railways top-order after being bowled out for 205 in the first innings of the Ranji Trophy group A encounter here today.
Dinda (2/17 in 8 overs) bowled unchanged for eight overs and was supported well by Amit Kuila (1/8) and Sayan Ghosh (1/12) as they reduced Railways to 37 for 4 in seamer-friendly conditions at the HPCA Stadium.
Left-handed opener Saurabh Wakaskar (4) got a boundary off Dinda's first delivery and the very next one saw the speedster take a return catch.
Former Baroda player Mrunal Devdhar (17) was the next to go as he lobbed one to Pankaj Shaw to give Dinda his second wicket.
While opener Shivakant Shukla (8 batting, 36 balls) doggedly defended at one end, he saw Vasaimudi Cheluvuraj edge a Sayan outswinger to Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps.
Arindam Ghosh (4), who is going through a wretched run was castled by Kuila as Railways still need 169 runs to get a first innings lead.
It will all depend on how well keeper-batsman Mahesh Rawat, whose attacking batting can take the game away in one sesson, performs tomorrow.
Earlier, Karn Sharma called correctly at the toss and rightly put Bengal into bat.
Abhimanyu Easwaran (8) hit a couple of boundaries but was snapped by Rawat behind the stumps off Anureet Singh's (4/66) bowling.
It was left-handed Sudeep Chatterjee (85, 11x4), whose 158-ball knock was the saving grace in an otherwise inept batting show on a track that aided seamers.
Chatterjee should however be blamed as he has now failed to convert three half-centuries in three matches into three-figure mark. After 73 against UP and 51 against Punjab, the stylish left-hander yet again did all the hardwork before he was undone by a slower from Anureet.
The only significant partnership that Chatterjee had was a 66-run stand for the fifth wicket with Agniv Pan (27).
This was after Bengal were rattled at 62 for 4 with both Manoj Tiwary (0) and Wriddhiman Saha (0) back in the pavilion without troubling the scorers.
Both were guilty of lack of footwork to away going deliveries from former UP medium pacer Amit Mishra. Mishra had figures of 3/38 in 17 overs.
Bengal crossed 200-run mark thanks to some lusty blows by Dinda, whose 26-ball-30 had five boundaries.
Brief Scores: Bengal 1st Innings 205 in 69.5 overs (Sudeep Chatterjee 85, Ashok Dinda 30, Agniv Pan 27, Anureet Singh 4/66, Amit Mishra 3/38)
Railways 1st Innings: 37/4 (Mrunal Devdhar 17, Ashok Dinda 2/17).
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