Veteran Bengal spinner Utpal Chatterjee scalped a career-best 8 for 54 to skittle out Hyderabad for 252 in their first innings on the second day of the four-day 'Elite' Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
From an overnight score of 223 for 7, Hyderabad collapsed to the guiles of the left-arm spinner and lost quick wickets in the morning session to end up at 252.
In reply, Bengal showed uncharacteristic resilience to end the day on 153 for three.
Opener Arindam Das, who replaced Abhijit Chakraborty after the hosts' disastrous performance against Assam, struck a patient, unbeaten 72 and was at the crease along with Debang Gandhi (11) at close.
The Bengal innings suffered a jolt when Shivaji Yadav picked two wickets off consecutive deliveries with the score reading 52, but Das and skipper Rohan Gavaskar (36) added 87 runs for the third wicket to pull the hosts out of the hole.
Requiring only 100 runs to cross Hyderabad's first innings total and having seven wickets in hand, Bengal look poised to take the first innings lead and valuable points from the match.
Earlier, Chatterjee made good use of the turning track to pick the remaining three wickets of the Hyderabad innings and record career-best figures of eight for 54 in the Ranji Trophy.
Ibrahim Khaleel, who was undefeated on 50 yesterday, top-scored for Hyderabad with 66 and was the last batsman out, being caught by Sourashis Lahiri off a Chatterjee delivery.
Scoreboard
Hyderabad (1st innings): (overnight 223 for 7)
D Manohar c A Das b U Chatterjee 29
Nanda Kishore lbw S S Paul 6
A T Rayudu b U Chatterjee 30
V Kumar c A Das b S Lahiri 12
A Yadav c S Lahiri b U Chatterjee 45
I Khaleel c S Lahiri b U Chatterjee 66
F Khan c A Das b U Chatterjee 0
S Yadav lbw U Chatterjee 18
V V Rao c D Gandhi b U Chatterjee 13
N P Singh lbw U Chatterjee 9
I S Reddy not out 1
Extras: (b-9, lb-4, nb-10) 23
Total: (all out in 108.5 overs) 252
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-64, 3-88, 4-92, 5-171, 6-177, 7-206, 8-236, 9-249.
Bowling: S S Paul 21-4-59-1, L R Shukla 5-0-14-0, S Sanyal 5-1-16-0, Chatterjee 42.5-20-54-8, S Lahiri 27-5-70-1, S S Singh 3-0-7-0, R Gavaskar 5-1-19-0.
Bengal (1st innings):
A Das batting 72
N Haldipur lbw S Yadav 18
A Roy c V V Rao b S Yadav 0
R Gavaskar st Khaleel b Yadav 36
D Gandhi batting 11
Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-11, w-2) 16
Total: (for 3 wkts, 72 overs) 153
Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-52, 3-139.
Bowling: N P Singh 12-5-19-0, V V Rao 4-0-12-0, I S Reddy 16-7-25-0, S Yadav 23-8-44-3, F Ahmed 6-3-13-0, A T Rayudu 8-1-21-0, D Manohar 3-0-16-0.
