A fine showing by Railways' bowlers forced Bengal on the backfoot on the second day of the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match in Delhi on Wednesday.
After posting 348 in the first innings, Railways exploited the seamer-friendly conditions well to restrict Bengal to 153 for four at stumps at the Karnail Singh stadium.
J P Yadav, who top scored for Railways with 93, served his side well with his medium pace to return two crucial wickets while rookie pacer Santosh Saxena accounted for the other two.
Bengal, who slumped to 113 for four before an unbeaten 40-run partnership between skipper Rohan Gavaskar (24) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (22) steadied the innings, are still 195 runs behind with six wickets intact.
"At the moment we are not looking for an outright win. A first innings lead is what we are aiming for right now. If we manage that it will be a good thing," Bengal coach Karsan Ghavri said.
But taking the two points on the basis of first innings lead seems a herculean task for the visitors whose batsmen struggled to come to terms with uneven bounce of the track.
"In the morning the pitch was a bit damp, but the pitch improved as the day progressed. Towards the end, however, the ball was keeping low," Ghavri said.
"We are pinning our hopes on Gavaskar and Shukla besides the late order batsmen, most of whom can bat."
Scoreboard
Railways (1st innings): (overnight score: 305-9)
S Bangar c Haldipur b Ali 4
A Pagnis lbw Lodhgar 57
T Singh c Arindam Das b Lodhgar 86
Raja Ali c Haldipur b Bose 15
S Verma lbw Bose 1
J Yadav c Sanyal b Bose 93
Y Goud lbw Bose 15
S Wankhede lbw Bose 0
Harvinder Singh b Ali 22
K Parida c Lodhgar b Ali 0
S Saxena not out 13
Extras:(w:6, nb:21, b:9, lb:6) 42
Total:(all out in 99.3 overs) 348
Fall of wickets: 6-1, 129-2, 184-3, 186-4, 187-5, 233-6, 239-7, 301-8, 305-9, 348-10.
Bowling: S Ali 17-3-68-3, R Bose 24.3-4-67-5, S Sanyal 19-2-59-0, S Lahiri 5-1-35-0, LR Shukla 5-1-14-0, R Gavaskar 5-2-14-0, M Lodhgar 24-5-76-2
Bengal (1st innings):
Arindam Das c Harvinder Singh b Yadav 8
N Haldipur lbw Yadav 30
D Gandhi b Saxena 18
D Dasgupta lbw Saxena 32
R Gavaskar not out 24
LR Shukla not out 22
Extras: (w:1, nb:10, b:6, lb:2) 19
Total: (for 4 wickets in 64 overs) 153
To bat: S Sanyal, S Lahiri, M Lodhgar, R Bose, Sabir Ali.
Fall of wickets: 13-1, 56-2, 100-3, 113-4
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 13-3-33-0, JP Yadav 16-6-23-2, S Saxena 12-1-47-2, S Bangar 8-3-13-0, K Parida 11-2-25-0, A Pagnis 4-1-4-0
