At stumps, Bengal were 109 for five with their No 1 batsman Manoj Tiwary back in the pavilion along with the dependable Anustup Majumdar. Glovesman Wriddhiman Saha and veteran Laxmi Ratan Shula were at the crease batting on 5 and 2 respectively.
A commendable first innings lead of 97 helped hosts Bengal get a sizeable lead of 206 runs against Ranji champions Rajasthan despite a mini batting collapse in the second innings.
At stumps, Bengal were 109 for five with their No 1 batsman Manoj Tiwary back in the pavilion along with the dependable Anustup Majumdar. Glovesman Wriddhiman Saha and veteran Laxmi Ratan Shula were at the crease batting on 5 and 2 respectively.
Earlier, Bengal seamers Sourav sarkar and Shukla shared seven wickets amongst themselves as Rajasthan were bowled out for 161 in 58.1 overs.
Lower-order batsman Madhur Khatri scored a 58-ball 49 and shared 59 runs with glovesman Dishant Yagnik (14) for the seventh wicket to help Rajasthan avoid the follow-on before being bundled out for 161 in their first innings.
In Bengal's second innings, rookie opener Jayojit Basu's 48 (95 balls, 8x4) and Writam Porel's 37 (77b, 5x4) helped them add 75 runs for the second wicket but the other batsmen failed miserably.
Rajasthan struck through Pankaj Singh (3/15) and Aniket Choudhary (2/35) and gave their team enough chances but some sloppy fielding meant that the Bengal duo survived.
Jayojit got a reprieve when on 24 when Rajasthan skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar dropped the opener at the first slip.
First innings hero Subhamoy Das could not do much before perishing to a superb rising delivery from Pankaj, while Tiwary too was caught behind becoming the lanky pacer's third victim.
Anustup Majumdar (4) edged one off Aniket Choudhary's bowling to Yagnik. he was finally given out after the third umpire checked the legitimacy of his delivery.
With the pacer duo of Pankaj and Rituraj getting some uneven bounce and movement, Rajasthan would fancy their chances on the final day if they can keep the target around 250 and get enough time to chase it down.
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