Calcutta/Lahli: Half-centuries by debutant Pramod Chandila and Pankaj Shaw steered Bengal to 257 for eight after they were struggling at 112 for five at one stage on Day I of their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, at the Bansi Lal Stadium.

Sent in to bat after Haryana won the toss, Bengal had to fall back on the duo of Chandila and Shaw after the top-order failed to make substantial contributions on a wicket where batsmen have always found the going difficult.

Chandila made a breezy 65 off 79 balls, hitting seven boundaries, while Shaw struck 54 off 107 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and a six. Scoring a half-century in Ranji debut may not amount to something earth-shattering, but it does take a lot of grit, attitude and courage to score at a strike rate in excess of 80 in Lahli where bowlers tend to call the shots.

And if anyone had reservations on Chandila's promotion to the Bengal senior squad from the Under-23 side, the youngster has certainly come up with a pretty good reply.

Chandila shared 64 runs for the sixth wicket with Manoj Tiwaryand later, Ojha joined Shaw to add 65 runs for the eighth wicket to somewhat rescue Bengal on a difficult wicket.

Batting at No.3, Sreevats Goswami managed 35 before getting out to Sachin Rana, who was the most successful bowler for Haryana as he picked up three wickets, which included the scalp of Bengal captain Manoj (24). Ashish Hooda and Yuzvendra Chahal bagged two wickets apiece, while there was one for Harshal Patel as well.

At stumps, Pragyan Ojha and Ashok Dinda were batting on 22 and 5, respectively. Pacer Mukesh Kumar is the other debutant for Bengal in this game.

Earlier, Sayan Sekhar Mondal was sent up to open the innings with Naved Ahmed, but all what the all-rounder could do was labour his way to scoring 13 runs. Naved too scored just 12.

The real disappointment for Bengal was the failure of their technically best batsmen at present, Sudip Chatterjee, who scored only six. Sudip was out caught behind off the bowling of Hooda.

Earlier, Sayan Sekhar Mondal was sent up to open the innings with Naved Ahmed, but all what the all-rounder could do was labour his way to scoring 13 runs. Naved too scored just 12.

The real disappointment for Bengal was the failure of their technically best batsmen at present, Sudip Chatterjee, who scored only six. Sudip was out caught behind off the bowling of Hooda.