Bengal pacer S S Paul returned a five-wicket haul as Baroda caved in for 241 despite a fighting ton from Kiran Powar on the opening day of the five-day Ranji Trophy Elite group semi-final in Kolkata on Friday.
Electing to bat, Baroda began disastrously losing the first three wickets with only 28 runs on the board, before Powar (116 runs; 224 balls, 16x4) and in-form skipper Jacob Martin (51 runs; 106 balls, 10x4) repaired the damage by stitching together a 104-run stand.
However, once Martin departed, the Bengal bowlers stuck to a good line and length on a venomless Eden Gardens track to chip in with wickets at regular intervals, as none of the later order Baroda batsmen could come up with sizeable contributions.
Left-hander Powar, who notched up his maiden Ranji Trophy hundred this season, ploughed a lonely furrow with Paul (5/53) and his pace partner Ranadeb Bose (3/83) keeping up the pressure on the visitors.
Seven Baroda batsmen failed to reach double figures and it was primarily due to the efforts of Powar and Martin that the tourists managed to reach what the centurion later claimed was a 'decent total'.
Powar, who survived a scare on 26 off Bose when an outside edge went between the outstretched hands of Subhomoy Das at slip and wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta, posted his hundred 27 minutes into the post-tea session.
The landmark was reached with a delicate square cut off Sourasish Lahiri that went to the point fence.
Powar's innings finally came to an end when he was the eighth batsman out caught at square-leg by substitute Subhojit Paul of S S Paul.
Scorecard:
Baroda 1st innings
C Williams lbw b S S Paul 10
P Shah c S Das b S S Paul 0
R Solanki lbw b R Bose 9
J Martin b S S Paul 51
K Powar c sub (S Paul) b S S Paul 116
Y Pathan c M Tiwari b S S Paul 5
A Bhoite c D Dasgupta b L R Shukla 14
R Pawar c M Tiwari b S Lahiri 3
R Patel c S S Paul b R Bose 7
S Joshi b R Bose 4
I Pathan (Sr) not out 7
Extras (b-2, lb-5, nb-3, w-5) 15
Total (all out in 87.3 overs) 241
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-12, 3-28, 4-132, 5-151, 6-202, 7-209, 8-230, 9-230.
Bowling:
S S Paul 24-5-53-5, R Bose 22.3-3-83-3, S Lahiri 28-6-63-1, L R Shukla 7-2-10-1, S S Singh 6-2-25-0.
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