Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal is proving to be a handy cricketer. On Friday, his all-round performance put Bengal in sight of grabbing full points against Punjab in the Ranji Trophy tie at Eden Gardens.

At stumps on the second day, Punjab were in 88 runs arrears after surrendering the first innings lead. Having been bowled out for 191 in the first innings, Punjab were tottering at 64/3 after Bengal rode Jaiswal’s century to reach 343.

Jaiswal’s four wickets had triggered Punjab’s downfall on the opening day. Jaiswal then slammed his maiden first-class century after the top-order floundered once again. It was mainly because of him and Abhishek Porel’s 52 that they overtook Punjab’s total.

Jaiswal, the right-arm fast bowler, smashed a superb 111 off 185 balls with 14 boundaries and four sixes. The 25-year-old brought up his ton after striking three sixes off four balls.

“When I got the opportunity to bat, I said to myself that this was a golden chance to make an impact. I was confident of taking on the bowlers and scoring. I am happy to contribute for my team,” Jaiswal said after the day’s play.

Jaiswal and Kaif added 63 runs for the ninth wicket to take the team past 300.

Brief scores: 191 and 64/3 in 21 overs (Anmolpreet Singh batting 28). Bengal 343 (Suraj Singh Jaiswal 111, Sumant Gupta 55, Abhishek Porel 52; Gurnoor Brar 4/74, Sahil Khan 3/105).