Middle-order batter Swarupam Purkayastha scored a gritty half-century and Sumit Ghadigaonkar remained unbeaten on 48 before Bengal reduced Assam to 194 for eight on the opening day of a Ranji Trophy Group C clash.
After being asked to bat, Purkayastha held the Assam innings together by scoring 62 off 140 balls that included seven boundaries one maximum.
He smashed 53 runs with Pradyun Saikia (38) for the second wicket and then 68 runs for the fourth wicket with Ghadigaonkar to take Assam close to the 200-run mark.
India veteran Mohammed Shami and brother Mohammad Kaif picked up two wickets each, conceding 62 and 30 runs respectively. Right-arm fast bowler Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps, conceding 20 runs.
Shami's last international outing
Notably, Mohammed Shami is performing brilliantly in the Ranji Trophy 2025 clash, having got 17 wickets so far after being ignored for selection for the Indian setup. Shami's last international outing came in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where he picked up nine wickets in five outings, as India defeated New Zealand in the title decider at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. Shami's last Test outing came in 2023 during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia.
Bengal are currently on top in the Ranji Trophy Elite C points table with three wins in the four outings of the domestic tournament.
Brief scores
Assam 1944 for 8 in 77 overs (Swarupam Purkayastha 62, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 48 not out; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/20) vs Bengal.