Bengal are on course to their third successive Ranji Trophy semi-final appearance after Shahbaz Ahmed produced yet another sparkling all-round show to put them in the driver’s seat on the third day of their quarter-final match against Jharkhand here on Thursday.

Batting at No. 6, left-hander Ahmed top-scored with a gritty 81 as Bengal posted 328 in their first innings to secure a healthy first innings lead of 155 runs.