Sukhbinder Singh puts Assam in command

Sukhbinder Singh struck a captain's knock of 115 not out as Assam took a first innings lead of 101, forcing Bengal on the back foot on the third day of the 'Elite' Group B Ranji Trophy match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The veteran left-hander, who resumed on his overnight score of 77, added 43 runs for the ninth wicket with Arlem Konar (8) as the visitors stretched their total from 288 for 8 overnight to 347.

Bengal, who conceded a first innings lead of 101 runs, tried to make amends in their second innings as the two openers -- Amitabha Chakraborty and Nikhil Haldipur -- tried to occupy the crease to avoid early jolts. But their efforts were nullified as Assam picked two wickets in the last five overs of the day to have Bengal at 111 for three at close.

Bengal skipper Debang Gandhi, going through a lean patch, tried to play his shots but was dismissed by Parag Das on 36.

Gandhi, however, reached 4,000 runs in Ranji Trophy at his personal score of 15.

Earlier, Singh and Konar held their patience to deny the hosts an early breakthrough. The duo added 43 runs in 141 balls before Konar was dismissed by Sanjib Sanyal.

Singh, a former Delhi player, remained undefeated, scoring 115 in 271 balls with 19 fours.

Bengal (Ist innings): 246

Assam (Ist innings): (overnight 288 for eight)
P Das c U Chatterjee B S S Paul 30
S Saikia C N Haldipur B S S Paul 17
K Pawar lbw S S Paul 11
V Sarvanan c S Sanyal b R Bose 123
Z Zuffri lbw b U Chatterjee 4
R Satish c A Roy b L R Shukla 2
S Singh not out 115
G Dutta c S Sanyal b S S Paul 5
R Raghuram b S S Paul 0
A Konar lbw S Sanyal 8
M Ingty run out 5

Extras: (b-2, lb-12, nb-8, w-5) 27

Total: (all out, 121.5 overs) 347

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-62, 3-67, 4-90, 5-101, 6-282, 7-288, 8-288, 9-331.

Bowling: S S Paul 28-5-106-5, R Bose 22-7-64-1, U Chatterjee 27-10-51-1, S Lahiri 23.5-5-51-0, L R Shukla 14-3-50-1, S Sanyal 7-3-11-1.

Bengal (2nd innings):
A Chakraborty b R Raghuram 44
N Haldipur c&b R Raghuram 20
D Gandhi c (sub) M Gohain b P Das 36
S Das batting 4
L R Shukla batting 0

Extras: (b-4, lb-1, n-1, w-1) 7

Total: (for 3 wkts, in 50.1 overs) 111

Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-107, 3-111.

Bowling: G Dutta 8-2-20-0; M Ingty 12-6-28-0; P Das 9.1-1-15-1; A Konar 10-2-28-0; R Raghuram 11-4-15-2.