An unbeaten 79 by Nikhil Haldipur and his 119-run opening wicket partnership with Amitava Chakraborthy (58) helped Bengal reach 207 for three against Tamil Nadu on the rain-interrupted first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B league match in Tirunelveli on Sunday.

Haldipur and L R Shukla (34) were at crease when play was called off after being interrupted by rain 25 minutes into the post-tea session.

Electing to bat, Bengal began on a sound note with both Haldipur and Chakraborthy playing confidently as the visitors took lunch at a healthy 95 for no loss.

Tamil Nadu had to wait till the 42nd over to find the breakthrough when off-spinner Ganesh Kumar removed Chakraborthy on the third ball of his first over.

Chakraborthy, who faced 182 balls in his 286 minute stay and hit 12 boundaries, was caught by wicket-keeper Dinesh Kartik with the Bengal total on 119.

Bengal captain Debang Gandhi, who came next, perished soon, caught by Ram Kumar off M R Shrinivas, for a personal score of five. The visitors lost another wicket when Subhomoy Das (10) was adjudged leg before to medium pacer C Ganapathy.

But, Haldipur and Shukla steadied the innings adding 55 runs for the unfinished fourth wicket before rain stopped play.

Bengal First Innings

A Chakraborthy C Kartik B Kumar    58
N Haldipur batting                 79
D Gandhi C Ramkumar B Shrinivas     5
Subhhomoy Das LBW b Ganapathy      10
L R Shukla batting                 34
Extras (B-4, LB-5, W-1, NB-11)     21
Total (for 3 Wickets in 68 overs) 207
FoW: 1/119, 2/128, 3/152
Bowling: M R Shrinivas; 17-2-63-1; C Ganapathy 13-2-37-1; S Suresh 13-3-36-0; R Ramkumar 11-3-31-0; S R Ganesh Kumar 14-2-31-1.