Kolkata, Nov. 12: A rash stroke from Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla saw Bengal lose out on three crucial points against Baroda in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B tie at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday. In reply to Baroda’s 307, the home side were cruising at 257/5 with when Shukla threw his wicket away with a rash shot. Bengal were bundled out thereafter for just 293.

Shukla (69, 9x4, 2x6), who was dropped on 31 and 68 by Yusuf Pathan, didn’t learn from his mistakes and went for one expansive stroke too many. Trying to go inside-out over cover to left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh, Shukla holed out and from there on the hosts lost their remaining four wickets for just 36 runs.

Medium pacer Murtuja Vahora (4/35) cleaned up the tail, picking up three more scalps after dismissing opener Arindam Das in the eighth over of the day. The leg-before decision against Das was a poor one, the inside edge visible even to the naked eye.

At close of play on Day Three, Baroda were 58/1 with an overall lead of 72. Satyajit Parab and Azhar Bilakhia are at the crease on 41 and 12 respectively. Skipper Connor Williams (5) was the only batsman dismissed after off-spinner Saurashish Lahiri trapped him in front.

With just a day to go, the match looks to be heading towards a draw unless there is a miracle in store.

Earlier, resuming at 102/3, Ganguly set things up for Bengal with a flurry of boundaries.

The former India captain unleashed several of his trademark cover drives in his 76-run innings consisting of 14 boundaries. His 97-ball knock enabled Bengal notch up as many as 150 runs in the first session.

Half an hour before lunch, Ganguly tried to cut Yusuf Pathan but missed the line of the ball which knocked the bails off.

Scores: Baroda 307 & 58/1 in 22.1 overs (Azhar Bilakhia batting 41) vs Bengal 293 (Sourav Ganguly 76, Laxmi Ratan Shukla 69, Arindam Das 61; Murtuja Vahora 4/35)

PTI adds: Riding on half-centuries from skipper Dinesh Karthik (77) and S. Badrinth (50), Tamil Nadu took a crucial 14-run first innings lead against Gujarat in their four-day Group A match in Ahmedabad, heading for a draw.

Karthik was still at the crease in the company of C. Ganapthy (14) as the visitors reached 357/6 at draw of stumps on Day Three in reply to Gujarat’s 343.

In Delhi, bad light truncated third day’s play of Railways’-Group A match against Himachal Pradesh. Only 45 overs could be squeezed in the day and Himachal, resuming on 34/0, were 125/2 when stumps were drawn.

In Rajkot, India discard R.P. Singh and Shalabh Srivastava shared eight wickets between them to help Uttar Pradesh reach a commanding position against Saurashtra on day three of their Group B match.

The visitors shot out Saurashtra for 267, taking a 128-run first innings lead and then reached 72/3 in their second innings to take an overall lead of 200.