Baroda players congratulate Irfan Pathan after he took a smart catch to dismiss Bengal batsman Arindam Ghosh (not in picture) during the Ranji Trophy match between the two teams at the Eden, on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Baroda captain Connor Williams, on Wednesday, did not hide his disappointment at the umpires’ decision to call off second day’s proceedings an hour before the scheduled close.

“I am disappointed as our bowlers were really doing a good job at that point of time. I felt we could have carried on,” Williams said after the day’s play.

Asked whether umpires Subrata Das and NR Seetaram Prabhu were under pressure as someone of Sourav Ganguly’s stature appealed for light, he answered: “I don’t think umpires should look at names while taking any decision.”

Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey, however, played it safe. “Playing conditions are umpires’ prerogative and we should better leave it at that,” he commented.

The former India pacer also refrained from commenting about the close leg before appeal that Sourav survived off Irfan Pathan’s bowling. “These are part and parcel of the game. We should take it in our stride. I am happy with the way our bowlers performed. There is no reason why we can’t bowl Bengal out tomorrow (Thursday),” Mhambrey added.

Bengal opener Arindam Das, unbeaten on 52, was relieved to get runs under his belt after having an indifferent run last season.

“I am thankful to my coach Manabendra Ghosh (who is also Manoj Tiwary’s coach). I have been with him since last season and my confidence has increased a lot. I didn’t have much of a difficulty in negotiating Irfan. He is definitely not as quick as he used to be, and the slowness of the pitch also helped my cause,” the 28-year-old said.

He didn’t forget to mention that Sourav’s presence at the crease had a calming influence. “He was constantly encouraging me. Whenever I got a boundary, he made it a point to come up to me and give an assuring pat.”

Bengal coach Roger Binny is hopeful that his team would reach the magic figure of 308.

“We have two very good players at the crease. With Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Dibyendu Chakraborty and Sayan Sekhar Mondal still to bat, we are confident that we will get the first-innings lead,” he said.