Bengal put Haryana on the mat with pacer Akash Deep (5/61) breathing fire on Day II of their Ranji Trophy Group A clash in Lahli.

In reply to Bengal’s 419, Haryana were bundled out for 163 on Wednesday. Anustup Majumdar’s century had set an ideal platform for Bengal’s bowlers to go flat out at the Haryana batsmen on a hard Lahli wicket.

Thanks to Akash’s five-for, Bengal took a massive 256-run lead, which set them up for an outright win. Stumps were taken on Wednesday soon after the fall of the last Haryana wicket.

With such a big lead and two more days to go, Bengal will most likely ask the home team to follow on. A final decision will be taken on Day III.

Centurion Anustup (145) added only eight runs to his overnight score, but the Bengal tail wagged to ensure the team total went past 400. Akash scored a brisk 22 while his fellow quicks Mukesh Kumar (17) and Ishan Porel (14) also managed to get double-digit scores.

Openers Chaitanya Bishnoi and Yuvraj Singh, thereafter, took Haryana off to a steady start with their 42-run stand.

That’s when Akash struck.

That burst from Akash left Haryana wobbling at 53/4 all of a sudden and he had taken all four wickets. Haryana were then reeling at 100/9 before Sumit Kumar (70 not out) put up some resistance to give the total some respectability.

Brief scores: Bengal 419 (A. Majumdar 145). Haryana 163 (S. Kumar 70 n.o.; A. Deep 5/61). At stumps, Day II.