Himachal Pradesh makes place for themselves in the elite group of the Ranji Trophy after piling on huge 348 runs in first innings lead with two wickets in hand on the third day in their semi-final over Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur on Saturday.
HP, who had already taken the vital first innings lead over MP on Saturday, further consolidated their innings through another century from their South Paw batsman Mukesh Sharma (161) 17×4.
The overnight batsman, Bhavin Thakkar, resuming on 111, fell without scoring and batsman- Paras Dongra (20) was also snapped up early. Ajay Mannu (93) in company of Mukesh Sharma shared a 216 runs fifth wicket stand to push Madhya Pradesh virtually out of contest.
Ashok Thakur and Vikramjeet Malik, who took four wickets apiece in Madhya Pradesh’s innings, added an unbroken 51 for the ninth wicket.
In Brief: Himachal Pradesh 576 for 8 (Sharma 161, Thakkar 111, Mannu 93, Indulkar 80) lead Madhya Pradesh 228 by 348 runs
(Source: Indopia.in)
