Chopra, Nehra leave Himachal in the doldrums

Delhi dominated Himachal Pradesh for the second successive day in their Ranji Trophy North Zone clash at the Harbax Singh Stadium in the capital. Opener Akash Chopra completed a well-deserved double century before the hosts declared on 417/8 and Ashish Nehra then got onto the scorebook four times as Himachal Pradesh slumped to 106/4 by stumps.

Delhi resumed at 287/3 and Chopra reached his 150 with the first ball he faced. Featuring in two fifty partnerships during the day, with Pankaj Joshi and Sandeep Angurala, Chopra's marathon 8 hour and 20 minute vigil finally came to an end just after Delhi posted the 400. 27 fours and two sixes rained from his bat during a 380 ball innings that fetched 222 runs.

The declaration came shortly afterwards, leaving Himachal 54 overs to play out the day. With his fourth ball, leftarmer Nehra despatched opener Nischal Gaur but wicket keeper Arun Verma and skipper Rajiv Nayyar then frustrated Delhi with a 60 run stand. Two more strikes by Nehra besides a catch off fellow left arm seamer Amit Suman reduced Himachal to 89/4. Nayyar (36), who was still sticking to the crease like a limpet in the company of Richie Kapoor, holds the key to Himachal's fortunes on Monday.