A century partnership between opener Arindam Das and all-rounder Lakshmi Ratan Shukla enabled Bengal salvage a draw against Railways in the Ranji Trophy Elite 'A' cricket league match in Delhi on Friday.

Set a target of 311 after Railways declared their second innings at 216 for six in the morning, Bengal found themselves in trouble at 100 for four before tea on the fourth and final day at the Karnail Singh stadium.

Das and Shukla then saw the visitors through the evening session as they added 102 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter fell to Yere Goud.

Das remained unbeaten on a patient 60 that came from 241 balls while Shukla's counter attacking 65 needed only 95 balls and contained 10 fours and a six as Bengal finished at 212 for five before bad light forced early close.

Railways' seamers bowled a probing spell, with Harvinder Singh (2-64) providing the early breakthrough as he had Nikhil Haldipur caught by J P Yadav for four.

From one for six, the score soon became 48 for 3 as Deep Dasgupta and Rohan Gavaskar were back in pavilion before Devang Gandhi (25) combined with Das to add 52 runs for the fourth wicket.

Yadav then had Bengal skipper Gandhi caught behind to revive hopes of Railways' win.

Earlier, Amit Pagnis top scored with 89 for Railways, who made a sporting declaration one hour into the morning session.

Railways earned two points by virtue of a first innings lead. They now meet Delhi in the next round from November 25.

Scorecard

Railways (1st innings): 348

Bengal (1st innings): 255

Railways (2nd innings): (overnight 137 for 4)
A Pagnis b Bose 89
S Bangar c Dasgupta b Ali 2
T Singh run out (Gandhi) 45
J Yadav b Sanyal 5
S Verma c Haldipur b Lodhgar 0
R Ali c Lahiri b Gavaskar 25
Y Goud not out 7
H Singh not out 14

Extras: (b 8, lb 3, w 3, nb 6) 20

Total: (6 wickets dec, 54 overs, 259 mins) 217

Did Not Bat: S Wankhede, K Parida, S Saxena.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-97, 3-121, 4-122, 5-168, 6-196.

Bowling: Ali 8-1-26-1, Bose 13-2-57-1, Lahiri 11-2-39-0, Sanyal 12-1-43-1, Lodhgar 8-1-21-1, Gavaskar 2-0-20-1.

Bengal (2nd innings):
A Das not out 60
N Haldipur c Yadav b H Singh 4
D Dasgupta lbw Saxena 15
R Gavaskar lbw Harvinder Singh 17
D Gandhi c Wankhede b Yadav 25
L Shukla c Verma b Goud 65
S Sanyal not out 7

Extras: (b 7, nb 12) 19

Total: (5 wickets, 81.3 overs, 338 mins) 212.

Did Not Bat: S Lahiri, M Lodhgar, R Bose, S Ali.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-29, 3-48, 4-100, 5-202.

Bowling: Harvinder Singh 18.3-1-64-2, Yadav 14-6-18-1, Saxena 11-4-29-1, Goud 9.3-2-26-1, Parida 15.3-6-38-0, Bangar 12-3-24-0, Singh 1-0-6-0.