Defending champions Gujarat in danger of conceding lead

Bengal seamers B Amit and Ishan Porel picked up five wickets between them to trigger a middle-order collapse that left defending champions Gujarat at 180 for 6 and still 174 runs behind.

After Bengal were bowled out for 354, Gujarat didn't have the best of starts, losing lost Samit Gohel to Ashok Dinda in the first over with the score still on 0. In the eighth over, Porel got Priyank Panchal, last season's leading run-getter, to nick one to the wicketkeeper and Gujarat were a precarious 17 for 2. Bhargav Merai (67) and captain Parthiv Patel (47) went about restoring the innings with a 107-run stand but as soon as it was broken, Gujarat found themselves back in deep trouble.

They slipped from from 124 for 3 to 144 for 6, losing Merai, Manprit Juneja and Chirag Gandhi in the space of 13 deliveries. Juneja was the first to go when he was trapped in front by Amit in the 43rd over. In the first ball of his next over, Amit prised out the big scalp of Merai, knocking over his stumps. Five balls later, he induced an edge from Chirag to give Shreevats Goswami his third catch of the innings. Rujul Bhatt and Piyush Chawla (22*) then made sure there were no further casualties with an unbroken 36-run stand.