Kalyani, Jan 22 (IANS) Bengal enjoyed a strong outing on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C clash against Services at the Bengal Cricket Academy in Kalyani by finishing at 340/4 in 86 overs on Thursday.

Veteran batter Sudip Chatterjee, returning from an injury, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 140 off 226 balls – his 14th first-class century laced with 12 fours and a six. Chatterjee shared a 151-run opening stand with Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made 81 off 152 balls before being run out.

He later found support from Shahbaz Ahmed (38) and Sumanta Gupta (31 not out) to consolidate Bengal’s position and lead a brilliant batting day for the hosts. The match also marks veteran batter Anustup Majumdar’s 100th first-class appearance. Majumdar, who’s shy of turning 42, had gone past 100 List A appearances in the ongoing domestic season and made 27 off 33 balls.

At the Gokulbhai Somabhai Patel Stadium in Nadiad, Railways seized the advantage against Gujarat by bowling them out for 175 before reaching 77/2 at stumps. Former Gujarat all-rounder Bhargav Merai starred with the ball for Railways by returning with figures of 3-25.

Meanwhile, at the ACA Cricket Academy Ground in Fulung, North Guwahati, Assam endured a curtailed day’s play and closed on 187/6 in 86 overs against Haryana. Sibsankar Roy made 38 for Assam, while the likes of Aman Kumar, Anshul Kamboj, and Tanmay Baloda picked two wickets each.

At the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala, birthday boy Swapnil Singh struck a fighting unbeaten 60 off 74 balls while Sridam Paul top-scored with 75 off 123 balls to guide Tripura to 266 in 82.5 overs against Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand ended the day at 7/0 in three overs and trail by 259 runs, after left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra and youngster Janmejay Joshi picked seven wickets collectively.

–IANS

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