Following a five-month lay-off due to a right shoulder dislocation, Shahbaz Ahmed made an impactful return to claim four wickets and help Bengal restrict Gujarat to 107 for seven in the Ranji Trophy Group-C match at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

Resuming from 244 for seven, Bengal finished its first innings at 279 and kept Gujarat in check to stay ahead despite the significant loss of time due to bad light for the second straight day.

In a fine demonstration of pace bowling in humid conditions, Bengal pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep hit an ideal length, extracted better bounce and moved the ball off the surface. Shami, bowling in good rhythm from around the wicket, drew first blood by trapping Abhishek Desai in front.

Akash castled another left-hander, Aarya Desai, through the gate. Shami bowled southpaw Siddharth Desai prior to lunch before Shahbaz, donning the Bengal colours after 11 months, ran through the Gujarat middle- order. The left-arm spinner, a doubtful starter who was picked for his batting, relied on his patience and accuracy to scalp four for 17 in a 11-over spell.

Following a 26-minute rain break, Shahbaz broke a 31-run partnership between captain Manan Hingrajia and Umang Patel as the latter stepped out to miscue one.

Jaymeet Patel played on, while Urvil Patel missed a flighted yorker and Vishal Jayswal was caught at mid-on.

"I practised bowling just a day before the match, but am happy to have bowled a long spell. The plan was to be disciplined and wait for their mistakes," said Shahbaz.

Shami impressed with the older ball as he sent down six tidy overs, including three maidens.

Gujarat's lone resistance came from a determined Hingrajia (41 batting, 163b, 4x4), dropped on one off Shami, as he held up one end amid the ruins until the day's play ended prematurely.

The scores: Bengal -- 1st innings: Sudip Chatterjee c Urvil b Gaja 3, Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw b Gaja 20, Sudip Gharami b Siddharth 56, Anustup Majumdar c Nagwaswalla b Siddharth 0, Abishek Porel lbw b Siddharth 51, Sumanta Gupta c Urvil b Priyajitsing 63, Shahbaz Ahmed lbw b Nagwaswalla 2, Suraj Jaiswal lbw b Jayswal 21, Akash Deep c Aarya b Priyajitsing 29, Mohammed Shami (not out) 8, Ishan Porel lbw b Siddharth 0; Extras: (b-8, lb-16, w-2): 26; Total (in 80.4 overs): 279.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-75, 3-82, 4-95, 5-178, 6-183, 7-224, 8-249, 9-278.

Gujarat bowling: Nagwaswalla 17-1-44-1, Gaja 20-8-58-2, Priyajitsing 15-5-44-2, Jaymeet 3-1-18-0, Siddharth 20.4-2-69-4, Jayswal 5-0-22-1.

Gujarat -- 1st innings: Abhishek Desai lbw b Shami 0, Aarya Desai 8, Siddharth Desai 19, Manan Hingrajia (batting) 41, Umang Patel c Chatterjee b Shahbaz 18, Jaymeet Patel b Shahbaz 0, Urvil Patel b Shahbaz 15, Vishal Jayswal c (sub) Saifi b Shahbaz 0, Chintan Gaja (batting) 4; Extras: (b-1, nb-1): 2; Total (for seven wkts. in 53.3 overs): 107.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-9, 3-39, 4-70, 5-76, 6-96, 7-96.

Bengal bowling: Shami 14-6-34-2, Akash 11-5-21-1, Ishan 7-3-13-0, Jaiswal 10-3-21-0, Shahbaz 11.3-3-17-4.

Shahbaz scalps four wickets as Bengal reduces Gujarat to 107 for seven