Calcutta, Dec.1 :    Calcutta, Dec.1:  Assam 249 Bengal 205/4 Bengal skipper Rohan Gavaskar with a swashbuckling 86 and Humza Ferozie with a patient 76 led Bengal's riposte to Assam's first innings total of 249 on the second day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Eden Gardens today. At close of play, Bengal were at 205 with six wickets intact and in with a good chance of opening up a decent first innings lead. Earlier, the Assam tail, which had started drooping last evening itself, failed to wag much and their innings ended in less than an hour. The last three wickets managed to add just 35 runs as the Assam batsmen decided to commit hara-kiri with two run outs. Sourashish Lahiri picked up his third wicket when he had Sukhvinder Singh caught behind for four. The new Bengal opening pair of Arindam Das and Humza Ferozie started steadily and put on 30 runs in ten overs before the former was caught by Nisanta Bordoloi off Parag Das for ten. Das' departure brought Nikhil Haldipur to the crease. The left-hander, however, did not look too comfortable against off-spinner Ganesh Kumar and was bowled after making a laborious 14. As expected, the tempo picked up with the arrival of Gavaskar, who put together a 118-run stand with Ferozie for the third wicket. Gavaskar not only hit some crisp boundaries but also kept the strike rotating and the partnership was marked by some hard running between the wickets. As the duo, with Ferozie anchoring one end, dug in the Assam skipper tried a number of bowling changes. However, even as Ganesh Kumar, bowling from the High Court end, was able to restrict the batsmen, medium-pacers Utpal Medhi and Pabitra Dutta were unable to keep up the pressure. With the medium-pacers failing, Subhrajit Saikia introduced left-arm spinner Sukhvinder from the Club House end. After tea, Singh, bowling from the other end, gave Assam the breakthrough when he had Gavaskar caught at mid-off by Saikia. A disappointed hush fell on the sparse crowd as the home team skipper missed out on what would have been the first century of the match. He hit 11 fours and a six en route to his 86. Safi Ahmed came in after Gavaskar's dismissal but left without opening his account. He was Singh's second victim, caught by Manoj Joglekar. Even as the two quick dismissals rocked Bengal's boat slightly, Ferozie, who more than made up for the two catches he dropped yesterday, was there to steady things. Although overshadowed by Gavaskar's pyrotechnics, he played the role of the quintessential sheet-anchor, working the ball around the wicket and hitting the odd loose ball to the fence. He was at 58 when his captain fell and the onus of giving Bengal a tidy lead now lies on his shoulders. As the shadows lengthened at the Eden, Ferozie was batting with Saikat Mukherjee on seven when the umpires decided to call off play 12 minutes early with eight overs yet to be bowled.