Kolkata, Dec 20 (PTI) Veteran Anustup Majumdar stroked his way to an unbeaten 159 and lifted Bengal to 310 for 9 after a poor start against Himachal in their Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Tuesday.

Former champions Bengal were reeling at 44 for five after medium pacer Sidharth Sharma (5/69) struck thrice in the first 10 overs at Eden Gardens.

Rishi Dhawan accounted for Sudip Kumar Gharami, bowling him out for 5, while pacer Kanwar Abhinay got the prized wicket of skipper Manoj Tiwary (3) cheaply as Bengal found themselves in all sorts of trouble in the very first session of the first morning.

Then came the recovery acts, first through a 110-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed, and then the former’s 65-run stand for the eight wicket with Akash Deep.

Shahbaz Ahmed’s contribution was a handy 49 while Akash Deep got himself 34 runs.

Bengal’s saviour on the day was, without an iota of doubt, the 38-year-old Majumdar, who not only got a big hundred but also guided the two lower-order batters after losing half the side with very little on the board.

On the way to his highest first-class score, Majumdar found the fence 21 times and cleared it twice while facing 205 balls, his runs coming at a strike-rate of over 77.

Sidharth Sharma, who bagged his maiden five-for in first-class cricket, was the most successful bowler for Himachal.

At stumps, which was called 12 overs early owing to bad light, number 11 Ishan Porel (6) was giving Majumdar company.

Brief scores: Bengal: 310/9 in 78 overs (Anustup Majumdar 159 not out, Shahbaz Ahmed 49; Sidharth Sharma 5/69) in 78 overs vs Himachal.

In Sovima, Dimapur Uttar Pradesh: 400/3 in 90 overs (Madhav Kaushik 107, Dhruv Jurel 194; Rongsen Jonathan 3/104) vs Nagaland.

In Dehradun Odisha: 213 all out in 76.1 overs (Kartik Biswal 48, Biplab Samantray 46; Swapnil Singh 4/48) vs Uttarakhand: 4/0 in 4 overs.

Source: PTI News