Sudip Chatterjee struck a successive fifty-plus score, while Abhimanyu Easwaran returned to form with an unbeaten half-century as the two openers put Bengal in the driver's seat after a crucial first-innings lead on day 3 of their Ranji Trophy Group A clash against Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow on Sunday.
After Mukesh Kumar (4/43) and Shahbaz Ahmed (4/96) skittled out the home side for 292 to give a 19-run first innings lead, the opening duo capitalised on the momentum to strengthen their grip on the match.
Chatterjee, who was the architect of Bengal's first-innings total of 311 with a gritty 116, picked up where he left off, scoring an unbeaten 59 from 109 balls (5x4).
The left-hander displayed great resilience and technique, particularly under fading light conditions when he was struck on the helmet twice by rising deliveries from left-arm pacer Yash Dayal.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh resumed their innings at 206/3, looking to overhaul Bengal's total of 311 with Aryan Juyal sitting pretty on 90 in the company of another set batter Siddarth Yadav (20).
However, Bengal's India pacer Mukesh Kumar bowled a fiery spell to trigger a collapse, as they lost seven wickets for just 94.
Mukesh was the star for Bengal, striking early when he trapped Juyal LBW for 92. In his very next over, Mukesh dismissed Akashdeep Nath for a duck, with Wriddhiman Saha taking a sharp catch at slip.
Kotian leads Mumbai's superb fight back
Right-arm off-spinner Tanush Kotian led a brilliant bowling show with a five-wicket haul as defending champions Mumbai made a remarkable fight back by skittling out Baroda for 185 in their second innings on an eventful third day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Vadodara on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Kotian (5/61) scalped Baroda's three top-order and two lower-order batters to rock the home side who had taken a 76-run first innings lead on Saturday.
Kotian was ably supported by his right-arm off-spin colleague Himanshu Singh (3/50) as Baroda folded in 60.3 overs after starting the penultimate day at 9/0 made from two overs overnight. Kotian had also taken 4 wickets in Baroda first innings.
As many as 12 wickets fell on Day 3 as Mumbai made 42/2 at stumps with opener Ayush Mhatre and captain Ajinkya Rahane batting on 19 and 4 respectively.
Opener Prithvi Shaw failed for the second time in the match as he made 12 from 18 balls after he had made 7 in the first innings, while No 3Hardik Tamore was run out for 6.
Mumbai need 220 runs on Monday to win the match.
It was a procession of sort to the dressing room for the Baroda batters in the morning session as the home team was reduced to 41 for 6 in the 18th over.
After Shardul Thakur accounted for opener Jyotsnil Singh (10) in the fifth over, Kotian struck twice in the next over, removing Raj Limbani (3) and Shashwat Rawat (0), before dismissing Mitesh Patel (1) in the eighth over.
That spell from Kotian broke the back of Baroda second innings, only to be revived a bit by the lower-order batters. Captain Krunal Pandya (55) and Atit Sheth (26) stitched 62 runs for the seventh wicket to take the team score past 100-run mark.
Later, number 9 batter Mahesh Pithiya made 40 runs to help Baroda reach 185.
Brief Scores:
Baroda: 290 and 185 all out in 60.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 55, Mahesh Pithiya; Tanush Kotian 5/61) vs Mumbai 214.
In Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir: 519 for 9 decl vs Maharashtra 312/6 in 86 overs (Siddhesh Veer 127, Ruturaj Gaikwad 86; Rasikh Salam 2/57).
In Delhi: Services 402 vs Meghalaya 233 all out in 86 overs (Sumit Kumar 87, Balchander Anirudh 69; Varun Choudhary 5/43) and 57 for 6 in 39 overs.
Tamil Nadu in complete command against Saurashtra
Cheteshwar Pujara endured a six-ball duck as Saurashtra were left reeling at 35/5, trailing by 129 runs in the second innings with Tamil Nadu taking complete command of their Ranji Trophy Group D clash in Coimbatore, TN.
On the third day of the season-opener, Tamil Nadu's left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh ran riot in the Saurashtra ranks, returning 9-5-7-4 as the visitors were left staring at a huge task at the close of play.
Saurashtra conceded a massive first-innings lead of 164 as TN folded for 367 after resuming at 278/3 against the visitor's 203.
Javdev Unadkat returned 6/61 from his 24 overs.
Gurjapneet's victims included Pujara, who made 16 in the first essay, as the out-of-favour India batter was trapped in front of the wickets in the second innings.
In another match, Delhi took a slender lead of 14 runs in the first innings but Chhattisgarh edged ahead, reaching 33 for no loss to move ahead by 19 runs at stumps on the third day.
While skipper Himmat Singh made 65 (123 balls 8x4s, 1x6s), it was Jonty Sidhu's 170-ball 103 not out (11 fours, 2 sixes) which gave Delhi a slight advantage.
In Guwahati, hosts Assam were placed in a tricky position of 130/3, leading by 51 runs, after being asked to follow-on.
Assam were shot out for a mere 180 in reply to Jharkhand's 361 in the first innings.
Himachal continue to dominate vs Uttarakhand
Himachal Pradesh bundled out Uttarakhand for 299 to take a massive 364-run first innings lead and enforced a follow-on on the visitors, targeting an outright victory in their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Like the first two days, the third day also belonged to the home team that had put on board a massive 663 for six declared in their first essay in which four of their batters scored centuries.
Resuming at 50 for one, Uttarakhand resisted through overnight batter Avneesh Sudha (95), who missed out on his century but helped his team concede a lesser lead.
Following on, Uttarakhand faced only one over in their second innings and are yet to open their account. They need bat thorough the day to salvage draw.
Had it not been for Sudha's fighting knock and contributions from Vaibhav Bhatt (46) and Kunal Chandela (56), Uttarakahnad would have been in a worse situation.
Sudha hit 12 hours in his 171-ball dogged knock.
Swapnil Singh (22) and Aditya Tare (14) got the starts but didn't last long.
Pacer Divesh Sharma (3/47) was the most successful bowler for the hosts with his three-wicket haul while Arpit Guleria (2/36), Vaibhav Arora (2/54) and Mayank Dagar (2/65) took two wickets apiece.
