Mitesh Patel and Atit Sheth staged a spirited recovery for Baroda, taking them to 241 for six against defending champions Mumbai on day one of their Ranji Trophy opener in Vadodara on Friday.
Mumbai pacers Shardul Thakur and Mohit Avasthi removed the Baroda openers before the seasoned spin duo of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian got into the act, reducing Baroda to 90 for five in the 35th over.
At that point Mumbai were all over the opposition before Mitesh (86 off 159) and Atit (batting 60) frustrated the Ajinkya Rahane led-side with a 130-run partnership.
Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya (21) was the fifth wicket to fall for Baroda at stroke of lunch. Off-spinner Kotian had Krunal had caught behind. The Baroda skipper had collected two sixes off Mulani before perishing.
Kotian had also got rid of Shashwat Rawat (25 off 65), who had impressed with a hundred in the Duleep Trophy.
Mitesh was caught by Ajinkya Rahane off Mulani just before the new ball was due. Mitesh went for a hard slash off the left-arm spinner and Rahane did well to take a sharp catch.
For day one, the surface offered plenty of turn and bounce.
Earlier, Shardul had castled Shivalik Sharma with a beauty while Avasthi sent back Jyotsnil Singh (10) after the home opted to bat.
Uncapped left-arm pacer Yash Dayal, who was part of Test squad against Bangladesh, dismissed fellow India prospect Abhimanyu Easwaran early, but Bengal recovered through a century from Sudip Chatterjee and Sudip Gharami's 90 to post 269/7 against Uttar Pradesh on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group C match.
Opting to bat, Bengal had a shaky start when Dayal removed in-form Easwaran for just 5 runs in the fifth over.
Abhimanyu, fresh from three consecutive centuries in the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, edged one from Dayal to wicketkeeper Aryan Juyal.
However, veteran Chatterjee, returning to Bengal after a stint with Tripura, showed immense resolve.
He forged a crucial 198-run second-wicket partnership with Gharami, helping Bengal recover from the early setback.
Chatterjee played a patient knock of 116 from 227 balls, hitting nine fours and a six. Gharami, equally impressive, contributed 90 off 161 balls, laced with 11 boundaries and a six.
Just as Bengal seemed to be in control at 212/1, the innings faltered.
The collapse began when debutant leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam dismissed Bengal captain Anustup Majumdar for 1, triggering a slide that saw Bengal lose six wickets for just 57 runs.
Dayal bowled only 10 overs, finishing with figures of 1/20, while the bulk of the damage was done by the spin duo of Nigam (4/59 from 16 overs) and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (1/88 from 30 overs).
Wriddhiman Saha, also returning to Bengal after a fallout with the state's cricket board led him to join Tripura in 2022, had a forgettable outing, falling for a six-ball duck,
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed chipped in with a valuable unbeaten 26 from 38 balls, including two boundaries, to push Bengal to 269/7 by stumps.
Batting with extreme caution, opener Aayush Pandey and Sanjeet Desai shared a 95-run stand for the third wicket before some rearguard action carried Chhattisgarh to 277 for 6 against Delhi on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D.
Electing to bat, the hosts lost Bhupen Lalwani (2) and Ashutosh Singh (6) early but Pandey (89) and Desai (56) ensured that there were no more setbacks in the opening session.
Pandey faced 149 balls during his knock that had 14 shots to the fence and one over it while Desai stayed patient throughout, facing 115 balls and hitting only three boundaries.
They were going at a steady pace but Desai retired hut and Pandey was trapped in front of the wicket by off-spinner Ayush Badoni (2/29). It allowed Delhi to bounce back.
The visitors removed rival skipper Amandeep Khare (6), Shashank Singh (8) and Eknath Kerkar (8) in quick succession.
By having Chhattisgarh at 189 for five, Delhi had a great chance to wrap up the innings but the lower order of the home team batted with resolve to deny more success.
Ajay Mandal (39) and Shubham Agarwal (27) added 60 runs for the seventh wicket and were unseparated till the end of the day's play.
