Avishek Jhunjhunwala (top) made 95 while Manoj Tiwary scored 88

Pune: Riding on Abhishek Jhunjhunwala’s 95 and Manoj Tiwary’s 88, Bengal piled up 325 in their first innings in reply to Maharsahtra’s 179 at the end of second day’s play in their four-day Super League Group B Ranji Trophy match Wednesday.

Maharashtra, in their second essay, were 46 for no loss with Harshad Khadiwale batting on 24 and Rohan Bhosale on 15, thereby trailing Bengal by 100 runs.

Earlier, starting at the overnight score of 52 for two, Tiwary stitched together vital partnerships with Wriddhiman Saha (26), Rohan Gavaskar (23), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (24) and Jhunjhunwala, to guide Bengal to 325.

The Bengal top order failed to fire. Openers Deep Dasgupta and Arindam Das were out cheaply.

While Deep was dismissed off the second ball of the second over for just one, Arindam could score only 38, hitting eight boundaries.

India hopeful Saha, coming in at No.3, also could not do much. He scored only 26 in a painful 133-minute stay at the wicket.

Tiwary finally fell to pacer Sajin Sureshnath, edging one to wicket-keeper Rohit Motwani, with the scoreboard reading 221 for six. He struck 13 fours and two sixes during his 174 ball stay at the crease.

Then Jhunjhunwala took over from where Tiwary had left.

The stylish right-hander made a 122-ball 95 to see Bengal cross the 300-run mark before he became the last batsman to depart, caught by Ameya Shrikhande off Kiran Ramling Adhav. He hit 13 fours and one six.

For Maharashtra, Samad Fallah was the pick of the bowlers, scalping four wickets for 102 runs, while Sureshnath and Azhar Ansari picked up two wickets each.

Maharashtra captain Khadiwale and fellow opener Bhosale started the second innings on a positive note, scoring 46 in the last 10 overs of the day. (Agencies)