Aided by opener Subhomoy Das's chanceless hundred, Bengal overcame a shaky start to take a first innings lead over Baroda on the second day of the five-day Ranji Trophy Elite group semifinal in Kolkata on Saturday.
With half of their batting lineup still intact, the hosts are now five runs ahead of Baroda's modest total of 241.
Skipper Deep Dasgupta (50 batting; 113 b, 6x4) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (22 batting) were in the middle as Bengal reached 246/5 at stumps after being 10 for 2 at one stage.
Pacer Rakesh Patel utilised the morning juice in the wicket to get rid of Arindam Das (0) and the promising Avishek Jhunjhunwala (0) within his first four overs to give an early jolt to Bengal, before Das (115; 215b, 15x4) set about to repair the damage and put his side in command at a near-empty Eden Gardens.
Das and Manoj Tiwari (35) stitched together a 98-run stand for the third wicket that ended 18 minutes after lunch with left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar snaring Tiwari.
Pawar struck again soon after, getting youngster Kamal H Mondal (5) leg before to reduce Bengal to 128/4.
Das was then joined by his captain, and the two played cautiously, while picking the loose ones for harsh treatment, to carry Bengal to 161/4 at tea.
Das, who played some delectable shots, particularly on the off-side, reached the three-figure mark five minutes into the post-tea session by flicking Rakesh Patel to the square leg fence. This is Das's third ever hundred in the Ranji Trophy, and the first this season.
He finally departed offering a lazy shot to Pawar, and only succeeded in giving a return catch.
