Tons from Nayyar, Sharma put Himachal in command

The obduracy of Rajiv Nayyar and resourcefulness of Amit Sharma saw Himachal Pradesh take firm command over their Ranji Trophy North Zone tie against Services at the Palam ground in Delhi on Tuesday. After gathering a first innings lead of 183, HP pulled back one wicket in the Services second knock which terminated at 80/1.

Carrying off from the overnight 224/2, both Nayyar and Sharma duly completed three figures. The partnership had swelled to 207 when Sharma was stumped by wicket keeper Harish Bhaskar off his namesake Arun Sharma for a well deserved 120 (213 balls, 16 fours). Fourteen runs and 15 balls later, his erstwhile partner, Nayyar also deserted the crease, thrown out by Amit Nadkarni. The skipper had raised a personal tally of 121 (334 balls, 15 fours).

Two more wickets fell in quick succession, plunging Himachal Pradesh to 351/6 before Virender Singh smote an enterprising unbeaten 52 and marshalled the tail to good effect. The visitors reached 459/8 from 139 overs before closing shop. Left arm chinaman bowler Arun Sharma did the bulk of the wicket taking (3/119) in an innings that featured three runouts.

New ball bowler Shakti Singh drew first blood when Services took strike for the second time, trapping opener Narender Singh leg before in the ninth over. Harish Bhaskar (29) and Amit Nadkarni (42) stalled Himachal's march with a defiant little stand before stumps were called.