Sudip Gharami celebrates after smashing a brilliant century.
Shubham Sharma hit a brilliant unbeaten 102 and along with Himanshu Mantri put Madhya Pradesh in command against Punjab.
At Stumps on Day 2, Madhya Pradesh were 238 for the loss of two wickets in response to Punjab's 219. While Mantri missed out on a century (89, 243b,6*4) Shubham is still batting unbeaten on 102 off 212 deliveries.
Both the openers, Yash Dubey and Himanshu Mantri frustrated the opposition bowlers. With the pacers failing to get wickets, Punjab had to wait for leg-spinner Mayank Markande for the breakthrough. The 24-year-old did just that by dismissing Yash Dubey (20).
However, both Mantri and Shubham Sharma stitched a solid 120-run partnership for the second wicket to put MP in command against a toothless Punjab bowling attack.
The duo batted for close to 48 overs and inflicted maximum damage to the Punjab bowlers in the process.
As Markande came to Punjab's rescue once again by removing Mantri (89), it was Sharma who continued with his brilliant and steady knock. The 28-year-old middle-order batsman slammed his sixth first-class ton (102 not out), courtesy of nine fours and a six, to put his side in command, with three days of play still to go.
For Punjab, the only consolation of the day was perhaps a tight bowling spell from Markande who also represented the Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded Indian Premier League.
Brief Scores:
Punjab: 219 all out in 71.3 overs (Abhishek Sharma 47, Anmolpreet Singh 47; Puneet Datey 3/48, Anubhav Agarwal 3/36); Madhya Pradesh: 238/2 in 99 overs (Shubham Sharma 102 not out, Himanshu Mantri 89; Mayank Markande 2/70)
(Inputs PTI)
