Calcutta: A confident Manoj Tiwary overcame all odds to score a century at the Eden on Sunday as Bengal look set for victory against minnows Tripura in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group B match.

Tiwary (109) scored a century after 19 innings as Bengal finished at 307 against Tripura in their first innings to take a lead of 219.

The visitors, in their second essay, lost five wickets to finish Day II at 111 — still needing 108 runs to make their opponents bat again. Nishit Shetty (46) and Tushar Saha (5) were at the crease.

Determined to spend time at the wicket, Manoj looked a bit shaky on Sunday. The stylish right-hander rode his luck when on 98 he edged one between the first slip and wicketkeeper Rajib Datta to reach the coveted three-figure mark.

Manoj, during his 282-minute stay, faced 218 balls and hit 12 boundaries.

His partner Arindam Ghosh also reached his half-century but returned to the pavilion soon after, offering a catch to Rajib Saha off Jayanta Debnath.

Arindam and Manoj stitched together a 146-run third wicket stand that propelled the Bengal first innings to a strong position.

Captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla made 48 while the Tripura bowlers bowled some tidy overs to check Bengal’s scoring rate.

Spinners Jayanta Debnath and Tushar Saha both picked up three wickets.

Jayanta got Manoj’s wicket, trapping him leg before. Skipper Shukla missed out on a half-century after Abhijit Dey rattled his stumps.

Shukla, who joined Manoj in the middle after Arindam’s dismissal, started off with a boundary and a six in the very first over.

Wriddhiman Saha hit 26 while Ritam Kundu contributed with an unbeaten 30 to propel the hosts to a 219-run lead.

For Tripura, the second innings started on a similar note to their first innings. Ashok Dinda, after scoring a valuable 19 with the bat, continued to impress with the ball. Dinda started off with a couple of wayward deliveries and then dug in a short one to catch the inexperienced Biswajit Dey on the wrong foot. The opener, while trying to pull, offered a simple return catch to Dinda.

Captain Shukla then brought in Manoj Tiwary to bowl and he was bang on target. Manoj removed Timir Chanda with the score on nine at tea.

Ranadeb Bose removed the other opener Rajib Saha, and Rajesh Banik. Left-hander Nishit Shetty and Abhijit Dey then combined to consolidate the Tripura innings. The duo put on 71 for the fifth wicket to guide Tripura to 105. Abhijit was out lbw to Ritam Kundu.

Bengal need five more wickets to notch up their second consecutive win.