Dhruv Shorey slammed his 4th first-class ton against Himachal
Dhruv Shorey's fourth first-class century put Delhi firmly in sight of an outright victory against Himachal Pradesh in an opening round group B Ranji Trophy encounter on Wednesday.
Shorey scored his fourth first-class hundred -- 106 not out off 177 balls as Delhi declared their second innings at 281 for 4, leaving HP with a stiff target of 376.
Earlier, Delhi dismissed HP for 223 in their first innings taking a first innings lead of 94 runs and also ensuring at least three points.
At stumps on the third day, Himachal were 44 for 1 with their best bet Prashant Chopra being dismissed by Ishant Sharma (1/14 in 5 overs).
With 332 needed on the final day, it will be more about how Himachal survive against left-arm spin duo of Vikas Mishra and Varun Sood on a fourth day track with considerable wear and tear.
Not to forget that Ishant will also bowl full tilt in short spells and is more dangerous on these kind of tracks. Other seamer Kulwant Khejroliya is expected to stem the flow of runs.
In the morning, after quickly disposing off the remaining two HP batsmen for an addition of seven runs, Delhi got off to a brisk start courtesy Gautam Gambhir (49, 52 balls) and Hiten Dalal (25, 32 balls), who added 64 in only 10.5 overs.
Opening bowlers Rishi Dhawan (0/37 in 10 overs) and Pankaj Jaiswal (0/33 in five overs) were hit for a flurry of boundaries.
Once Dalal and Gambhir were gone, Shorey and skipper Nitish Rana (32) added 62 for the third wicket.
Shorey, a surprise exclusion from India A's tour to New Zealand, hit 10 boundaries and two sixes. The second six brought up his fourth first-class hundred as he keeps on maintaining a healthy 50 plus average.
He added 50 with Himmat Singh (26), who hit three sixes and 67 for the unbroken fifth wicket stand with wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat (21 no) as Delhi finished with an overall lead of 375.
Dhapola takes 13 wickets as Uttrakhand rout Manipur
Deepak Dhapola returned with a match haul of 13 wickets as Uttarakhand secured their second straight victory in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group beating Manipur by eight wickets on Wednesday.
In Dimapur, Sikkim also registered their second win in their debut season beating hosts Nagaland by nine wickets.
Sikkim have 13 points along with Uttarakhand but the former occupy the pole position in the Plate Group on the basis of better net run-rate.
Dhapola, who ripped apart Manipur in the first innings with a 7/50, returned with 5/46 as he along with Sunny Rana, who bagged an identical 5/46.
Manipur had four ducks in their innings and with the wicket of skipper Yashpal Singh for 15 taken by Sunny Manipur slumped to 164/8, thus losing seven wickets for just 21 runs.
Manipur were eventually bowled out for 185 in the second essay, setting Uttarkhand a target of 95.
Uttarakhand lost opener Karanveer Kaushal (18), No 3 Vaibhav Bhatt (27) but Vineet Saxena remaining unbeaten on 32 to steer them home in 17.5 overs to help them bag six points.
Uttarakhand had beaten Bihar with a bonus point in their last match here with Dhapola claiming 6/13 and 3/48.
In Dimapur, Sikkim were set a paltry target 79 as skipper Nilesh Lamichaney remained unbeaten on 33 alongside Ashish Thapa (27 no) to win in 25.4 overs.
Former Delhi batsman Milind Kumar was their star player with second successive double century that gave them a 195-run first innings lead.
Nagaland put up a strong show in their second essay with KB Pawan's 134 and Imliwati Lemtur's 61 as they finished at 273 in their second innings.
Brief Scores
In Dehradun: Manipur 137 and 185; 74.4 overs (Lakhan Rawat 82; Deepak Dhapola 5/46, Sunny Rana 5/46) lost to Uttarakhand 228 and 99/2; 17.5 overs (Vineet Saxena 32 not out) by eight wickets. Points: Uttarakhand 6, Manipur 0.
In Dimapur: Nagaland 179 and 273; 95 overs (KB Pawan 134, Imliwati Lemtur 61; Ishwar Chaudhary 5/70, Bipul Sharma 3/67) lost to Sikkim 374 and 81/1; 25.4 overs (Nilesh Lamichaney 33 not out) by nine wickets. Points: Sikkim 6, Nagaland 0.
In Jorhat: Arunachal Pradesh 220 and 331; 96 overs (Neelam Obi 80, K Yangfo 58, Kshitiz Sharma 57; Khadir 3/81) vs Mizoram 142 and 244/2 (Akhil Rajput 124, Taruwar Kohli 85.
In Puducherry: Puducherry 389 and 95/4 (Marimuthu Viknesh 47; Gurinder Singh 4/29) vs Meghalaya 326 (Yogesh Nagar 141 not out, Puneet Bisht 58; Pankaj Singh 6/39).
