Kolkata: Shreyas Iyer scored his maiden first-class century (153) to give Mumbai an upper hand against Bengal on Day One in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Eden Gardens yesterday.
<img title="Shreyas Iyer" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/dec/S-Iyer2912.jpg" alt="Shreyas Iyer" /> Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer reacts after scoring his century against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pic/PTI.
The 20-year-old who was promoted to No 3, hit the Bengal bowlers all over the iconic ground. His 175-ball knock was laced with four sixes and 16 boundaries as Mumbai ended the day at 306-4.&nbsp;Iyer&rsquo;s innings came to an end when he edged Ashok Dinda behind the stumps, just three overs before bad light stopped play in 86.2 overs. Iyer had a 176-run third wicket partnership with Abhishek Nayar (65).
It was a delight to watch Iyer combine with Nayar. Even as he showed no mercy to the Bengal seamers, Nayar rotated the strike cleverly and scored 4.69 per over compared to the opening pair of Aditya Tare and Akhil Herwadkar who scored less than two per over.
Mumbai had a slow start and were 79-1 in 33 overs at lunch. Tare was dismissed in the third over after lunch. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (22) and Siddhesh Lad (0) were the unbeaten batsmen at the end of the day.
About filling up the vacant No 3 position in the team, the youngster said, &ldquo;The 75-run partnership that I had with Shardul Thakur in the last match against UP gave me the confidence to score in this match. &ldquo;When our coach (Pravin Amre) asked me if I would be comfortable batting at No 3, I accepted the offer with both hands because No 3 is my favourite position. My 176-run partnership with Nayar was the turning point of the match today.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, Bengal coach Ashok Malhotra said that the team would fight back. When asked as to why he played three spinners on a green track he said, &ldquo;I cannot comment. This is the team given to me by our selectors. Bengal can still comeback tomorrow with the new ball, because it will be a cold morning.&rdquo;
Brief Scores: Mumbai: 306-4 in 86.2 overs (Shreyas Iyer 153, Abhishek Nayar 65; Veer Pratap Singh 2-79)
Other Results: 1. Virat Singh&rsquo;s ton helped Jharkhand reach 246-6 against Kerala at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Dhandbad yesterday.
2. Unmukt Chand&rsquo;s unbeaten 97 against below-par Gujarat took Delhi to a comfortable 178-1 at Feroz Shah Kotla.
3. Seamer Rana Dutta grabbed his career-best haul of six for 57 as Tripura reduced Goa to 234 for eight at Agartala.
4. Saurabh Wakaskar (94) and Deepak Hooda (82) scored half centuries to help Baroda reach 291-6 against MP. &mdash; PTI

Shreyas Iyer scored his maiden first-class century (153) to give Mumbai an upper hand against Bengal on Day One in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Eden Gardens yesterday

Ranji Trophy: Shreyas' century puts Mumbai on top at Eden Gardens

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Ranji Trophy: Shreyas' century puts Mumbai on top at Eden Gardens

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