Opener Gagan Khoda's patient half century went in vain as hosts Rajasthan slumped to 205 for six against Bengal on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B cricket match at the K L Saini stadium in Jaipur on Friday.

Khoda scored 86 from 163 balls, with the help of 11 fours and a six. He also added 82 runs for the third wicket with Nikhil Doru (46).

But Shiv Shankar Paul exploited the wet conditions to claim four wickets for 52 runs and justified Bengal's decision to send Rajasthan in after winning the toss.

Paul had Vineet Saxena caught behind in the first over while Lakshmi Ratan Shukla got rid of Rohit Jhalani.

Khoda and Doru then revived the hosts' innings but things fell apart after their departure.

At stumps, Anshu Jain was batting on 22 along with Sanjeev Sharma, on 18.

Scoreboard

Rajasthan (1st innings):
V Saxena c Das b Paul 0
G Khoda lbw Shukla 86
R Jhalani c Das b Paul 9
N Doru lbw Lahiri 46
P B M Krishnakumar c Sanur b Paul 4
A Jain batting 22
R Kanwat c Bose b Paul 8
S Sharma batting 18

Extras: (b-1, lb-6, nb-5) 12

Total: (for 6 wickets in 86 overs) 205

Fall of wicket: 1-0, 2-30, 3-142, 5-161, 6-169.

Bowling: Shiv Shankar Paul 23-4-52-4, Ranadeb Bose 15-4-32-0, L R Shuklar 10-1-32-1, Utpal Chatterjee 17-6-36-0, Saurisish Lahiri 17-2-36-1, Rohan Gavaskar 4-0-17-0.