Shahbaz Ahmed's valliant 69 off 112 balls followed by Abhishek Porel's spirited 50 helped distraught Bengal to finish at 174 finally from 65 for six against dominating Saurashtra on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Eden Gardens. In reply to Bengal's 174, the visitors trailed by 93 runs after Day 1’s stumps after being reduced to 81/2.

Saurashtra won the toss and offered Bengal to bat. On the bouncy and green track at the Eden Gardens Bengal batsmen looked stumbling against Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya from the beginning and lost wickets continually. Both the fast bowlers took three wickets each. Once, in 21.4 overs Bengal's score was 65 for the loss of six wickets when all the leading batsmen had returned to the pavilion. The condition could have been literally disastrous. Ahmed and Porel, exhibiting a magnificent 100-run partnership on the seventh-wicket partnership saved Bengal from the blushes.

In the post-match media conference Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary said, "Obviously, the day did not belong to us. But we hope to make a strong comeback on the second Day. Losing in the toss became a factor and that was not in our hands. The batters found it tough in the morning and we also leaked some vital runs at the end."

The captain added, "Tomorrow is a fresh day and we will give it all to get them out as early as possible. We will have to take their eight wickets and at the same time, we must ensure that no runs should be leaked. There is a long way to go in this match and anything can be possible." Manoj had a lot of appreciation for his two batsmen Shahbaz and Abishek. He commented, "Playing this sort of innings, at this young age and that too in a final, will give Abishek, especially a lot of confidence ahead in his career."