Ranadeb Bose

New Delhi: Tejinder Pal Singh hit a classy 86 on a damp Karnail Singh pitch as Railways cantered to 305 for nine on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A cricket match against Bengal on Tuesday.

The first over dismissal of skipper Sanjay Bangar notwithstanding, Railways, put into bat by Bengal skipper Rohan Gavaskar, were benefited from some lacklustre bowling by the visitors who failed to exploit the conditions stacked heavily in favour of the seamers.

But for fast bowler Ranadeb Bose?s four-wicket haul, which came after lunch, the visitors would have been in dire straits. Sabir Ali supported Bose well with three scalps while left-arm spinner Murtaza Lodhgar, hero in Bengal?s win over Karnataka last week, chipped in with two.

Railways suffered an early blow when Bangar departed in the first over by Ali after making just four. But that was all Bengal managed in the opening session as Amit Pagnis (57) and Tejinder played carefully to take the score to 110 for one at lunch.

?We did not play good cricket at that time, the first session did not go our way. The pitch was alright and was helping the bowlers,? Gavaskar said after the day?s play.

?Ranadeb bowled a superb third spell after lunch that brought us back into the game.?

Ranadeb, the 25-year-old right-arm pacer, produced a brilliant spell, capturing four wickets in 12 overs giving away 20 runs, as Railways slumped from 129 for one to 187 for five. J. P. Yadav (69 batting) then steadied the ship with the tailen- ders.