XtraTime Newsdesk: After securing consecutive victories in their previous two matches, Bengal have taken control of their third Ranji Trophy encounter against Kerala. Abhimanyu Easwaran and his teammates find themselves in a commanding position at the end of the second day, thanks largely to an outstanding all-round performance from Shahbaz Ahmed.

Batting first, Bengal posted a competitive total of 350 runs. Shahbaz emerged as the biggest obstacle for Kerala, producing a superb knock of 121 runs. Ankur Pal contributed 66, while Sudip Gharami scored 36 and Sumanta Gupta added 49 to strengthen Bengal's innings.

For Kerala, Aditya Sarwate picked up four wickets, while Basil claimed three to restrict Bengal to 350.

However, Kerala struggled to respond against Bengal's disciplined bowling attack. Their batting line-up failed to build substantial partnerships, leaving the visitors in a difficult position.

Kerala captain Vishnu Vinod was the only batter to offer some resistance, scoring 41 runs. The rest of the batting unit could not match Bengal's intensity as the hosts tightened their grip on the contest.

Mohammed Shami led the Bengal bowling attack with three wickets, delivering another important contribution for his side. Shahbaz continued his impressive performance, picking up two wickets after his brilliant century with the bat. Pradipta Pramanik claimed the remaining wicket.

At the end of the second day's play, Kerala still trail Bengal by 249 runs, leaving the visitors with a considerable amount of work to do.

With Shahbaz Ahmed making a significant impact in both innings and Shami leading the pace attack, Bengal have put themselves in a strong position to extend their winning run in the Ranji Trophy.

The challenge for Kerala now is to recover quickly and prevent Bengal from taking complete control of the match.