Bengal take honours on opening day vs Mumbai in Ranji tie

Kolkata, Dec 1 (UNI) Bengal seized the initiative on the opening day of the Ranji trophy tournament against Mumbai, reaching 226 for two at stumps, albeit at a snail's pace.

Bengal won the toss and elected to bat. And the decision proved a good one as they batted for the whole day with only two successes for the day for the visitors.

At stumps, A Jhunjhunwala was unbeaten on 87 with 14 hits to the fence and giving him company was Manoj Tewari on nine.

After Bengal lost Arindam Das (26) at the score 71, A Chakraborty and Jhunjhunwala engaged in a fruitful 130-run second wicket partnership. During this period Chakraborty scored a gritty 81 with seven boundaries before he was taken by Kulkarni.

Jhunjhunwala batted well throuughout and looked set for another Ranji ton.

For Mumbai, Kulkarni was the meanest customer giving away 31 runs of his 26 overs and taking one wicket. The others bowled well in parts.

Scoreboard: Bengal First Innings Arindam Das lbw b Hazare 26 AP Chakrabort c&bKulkarni 81 AA Jhunjhunwala not out 87 M Tiwary not out 9 Extras (lb 15, w2, nb1, pen 5) 23 Total (for 2 wickets in 91 overs) 226 Fall of wickets 1-71 Bowling RP Verma 17 2 48 0 SP Hazare 16 4 42 1 RR Powar 25 4 68 0 NM Kulkarni 26 13 31 1 BJ Thakkar 1 0 6 0 NS Shetty 5 2 10 0 R Sharma 1 0 1 0

UNI