Bengal were in a commanding position after declaring their first innings at 513 for six in reply to Punjab's 241 on the third day of the Ranji Trophy elite group B match at the Kanchenjungha Stadium in Siliguri on Monday.

Punjab were 64 for one with Ravneet Ricky (19) and Ravinder Singh (21) at crease at close of play.

For Bengal, Arindam Das and Manoj Tiwari scored centuries today after opener Anustup Majumder missed the ton by a whisker and had to return at 99 on Sunday.

Tiwary played 183 balls and scored 138 with 17 boundaries, while Arindam was given LBW at 103 with 14 fours. Kamal Hasan Mandal, the local boy, scored 37.

Punjab lost its first wicket when Karan Goel was given lbw bowled by Asok Dinda.

Scorecard:

Punjab (1st innings): 241
Bengal (1st innings, overnight 231 for one in 72.3 overs):
A Mazumber c P Dharmani b G Singh 99
A Das lbw G Singh 103
S Ghose lbw VRV Singh 16
M Tewary c S Ladda (sub) b K Goel 138
W Saha lbw Manpreet Gony 8
L Shukla b A Kakkar 74
K Hasan Mondal not out 37
Extras: (b-7, lb-7, nb-23, w-1) 38
Total: (for six wickets decl. in 135.2 overs) 513

Fall of wickets: 1-194, 2-242, 3-247, 4-275, 5-398, 6-513

Bowling: G Singh 26-5-93-2, VRV Singh 24-5-97-1, M Gony 29-5-107-1, R Singh 12-2-44-0, C Singh 18-1-72-0, A Kakkar 24-5-68-1, K Goel 2.2-0-18-1

Punjab (2nd innings):

R Ricky not out 19
K Goel lbw b Dinda 21
R Singh not out 21
Extras: (b 3) 3
Total: (for 1 wkt in 27 overs) 64

Fall of wickets: 1-36

Bowling: R Bose 9-5-10-0, S Sarkar 8-3-21-0, A Dinda 7-1-23-1, S Lahiri 2-1-1-0, A Majumder 1-0-6-0