Making a last-ditch effort to get out of the relegation zone, Bengal seized the early initiative by skittling out Andhra Pradesh for a paltry 121 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Super League group-B match in Kolkata on Tuesday.
In reply, Bengal were 46/1 in their first innings at stumps, with Arindam Das (15 batting) and Wriddhiman Saha (19 batting) doing duty in the middle.
Anushtup Majumdar (10) was the only willower to get out, and the hosts now need 76 runs to take a first innings lead over the visitors at the Eden Gardens.
Sent in by Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Andhra batsmen surrendered to the relentless assault of Bengal's four-pronged pace battery in seam-friendly conditions.
The moving ball did all the trick, as Bengal medium pacers Rana Chowdhury (4/13), Ranadeb Bose (3/47), Shib Shankar Paul (2/20) and Ashok Dinda (1/33) ran through the Andhra innings after play began 45 minutes late in the morning due to dewy conditions.
Andhra's in-form openers Hemant Watekar (7) and Prashant Reddy (21) began cautiously, but Paul got the first success in his fifth over by getting rid of Watekar with an in-coming delivery.
Ranadeb Bose then trapped ASK Verma leg before even before the batsman could open his account, as Andhra reached 45/2 at lunch.
Reddy's gritty 106-minute stint in the 22 yards came to an end immediately on resmuption, with surprise weapon Rana Chowdhury - included in the team as a batsman who can bowl - striking.
Scorecard:
Andhra Pradesh (1st innings):
H Watekar b Paul 7
LNP Reddy b Chowdhary 21
ASK Varma lbw b Bose 0
Y Gnaneswara Rao c Saha b Bose 20
MSK Prasad b Chowdhary 1
A Pradeep c Saha b Bose 16
B Sumanth b Dinda 30
G Shankara Rao c Tiwary b Paul 0
D Kalyankrishna b Chowdhary 16
I Raju not out 1
P Vijay Kumar b Chowdhary 0
Extras: (lb 8, w 1) 9
Total: (all out; 49.2 overs) 121
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-24, 3-45, 4-47, 5-73, 6-80, 7-81, 8-120, 9-120
Bowling: R Bose 16-3-47-3, SS Paul 14-5-20-2, A Dinda 13-4-33-1, R Chowdhary 6.2-1-13-4
Bengal (1st innings):
A Majumdar c Vijay Kumar b Raju 10
A Das not out 15
W Saha not out 19
Extras: (lb 1, nb 1) 2
Total: (for 1 wicket in 24 overs) 46
Fall of wicket: 1-15
Bowling: D Kalyankrishna 6-2-11-0, P Vijay Kumar 6-2-9-0, I Raju 6-3-13-1, G Shankara Rao 1-0-4-0, Y Gnaneswara Rao 5-1-8-0
More from rediff