Abishek Porel did the rescue act for Bengal once again.

After his match-winning 53 not out on debut versus Baroda, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman churned out a fluent 73 that helped Bengal post a modest total of 242 in their first innings, on Day I of their second Ranji Trophy group phase game against Hyderabad at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

Pacer Mukesh Kumar ensured Bengal, bringing in Ritwick Roy Chowdhury and Sayan Sekhar Mondal in place of Sudip Chatterjee and Writtick Chatterjee, finished the proceedings well on Thursday as his double strike left Hyderabad wobbling at 15/2 at stumps.

Just like the final day of Bengal’s tournament opener, Porel again had to come in at a tough situation. Put in to bat, Bengal were reeling at 116/6, and it was over to Shahbaz Ahmed and young Porel to bail them out.

Fortunately for Bengal, the duo stitched together a valuable 74 for the seventh wicket. Shahbaz fell 10 short of a half-century. With No.9 batsman Akash Deep, Porel was able to forge a useful 40 for the eighth wicket that took Bengal past the 220-mark.

Brief scores: Bengal 242 (A. Porel 73; T. Thyagarajan 5/71). Hyderabad 15/2 (M. Kumar 2/3). At stumps, Day I