Shib Shankar Paul and Deep Dasgupta celebrate the fall of a Baroda wicket at the Eden on Friday. Pictures by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Bengal’s young brigade rose to the occasion on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Baroda at the Eden on Friday. If Shib Shankar Paul did the star turn with a five-wicket haul, the rest did not disappoint too.

Ranadeb Bose picked up another three wickets, while Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Sourashish Lahiri did their best restricting the visitors to 241.

The spring in their steps was not to be missed as Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Manoj Tewari and substitute Subhojit Paul ? a couple of dropped chances in the slip cordon notwithstanding ? set new standards on the field with some acrobatic efforts.

More importantly, the youngsters showed no signs of wilting under the pressures of a ‘big’ clash.

It could have been worse for Baroda, who recovered from a precarious 28 for three after winning the toss, had Kiran Powar not come up with a useful 116.

The lefthander along with captain Jacob Martin had raised visions of a recovery with a 104-run stand for the fourth wicket when Paul broke through his defence.

“I think we performed pretty okay? We just wanted to bowl to a plan and see how things happen,” said captain Deep Dasgupta at stumps.

Paras Mhambrey was more forthcoming. “The bowlers did a great job. The wicket is good for batting and it was important to maintain pressure, which we did. It was also important to not waste the new ball? Paul and Ranadeb did the job fairly well.

“The target tomorrow would be to overtake 241 and then build on from there. A score around 450-plus should be enough to seal the game,” the coach explained.

Rohan Gavaskar couldn’t make the ground this morning, because of viral fever, enabling Siliguri boy Kamal Hasan Mondal to make his debut. The disappointment over Rohan’s unavailability faded as Paul struck early.

Paul was suited best to the conditions. He was hitting the right line and getting the lateral movement which made the task of the batsmen difficult. Despite running mild temperature, he found the breakthroughs at the appropriate time. The five for 53 was his second five-wicket haul in Ranji this season and seventh overall.

Ranadeb complemented Paul’s efforts at the other end. He ended the Baroda innings with the second new ball’s first delivery.

Powar’s batting, however, showed runs were not hard to come by on this wicket. While the rest of his teammates lacked application, he showed good temperament and determination in carving out his first century this season.

The innings, which lasted 299 minutes, included 16 boundaries.

“It was a very good wicket to bat on? I was determined to get a hundred in this match since I was being dismissed in the 50s and 70s in previous matches. Last match I got out in the 90s? Our bowlers will have to bowl really well to put the pressure back on Bengal,” said Powar.

Bengal batsmen, who have not fared well in the first innings against Tamil Nadu and Railways, will need to show enough resolve and diligence to make their path to the title-round easier.