A belligerent century knock by Yashpal Singh enabled Services to score 238/8 in reply to Punjab first innings total of 300 runs in the North Zone Ranji match played at Gandhi Ground, Amitsar.

Punjab's overnight score of 300/9 did not advance any further, and the innings folded with the third ball of the day from Sayed Javed, which bowled Babloo Kumar and increased Javed's wicket tally to four.

Services began their reply on a sad note as Gagandeep Singh's impressive display of swing bowling sent back three batsmen back to the pavilion with only 27 on the board. Gagandeep struck in the very first over as PM Reddy (0) was compelled to play at an out-going delivery and edged it to gully fielder Sandeep Sanwal. Jasvir Singh (1) became the second victim of Gagandeep as he nicked an out-swinger for Yuvraj Singh to hold at third slip. Harish Bhaskar (7) was then surprised by a sharp in-cutter which shattered his stumps.

Yashpal Singh & Sanjay Verma showed some resistance and cautiously added 40 runs for fourth wicket. Skipper Verma (11) fell, trapped in front by Reetinder Singh Sodhi with the score on 67.

Sarabjit Singh stepped in at the departure of the skipper to join Yashpal Singh, who was shaping well. The pair took the total to 77/4 by lunch.

Yashpal Singh was in good touch and was stroking the ball well through the gaps. In this essay, he completed his half-century in 66 balls. Sarabjit too was facing the challenge with courage, and the pair wrested away the early initiative taken by Punjab. Both scored fluently and added 93 runs in the session without separated.

At tea, Services had scored 170 runs with Yashpal on 83 & Sarabjit on 49. The latter, however, was sent back by an accurate direct hit from mid-off by Yuvraj Singh while trying to steal a single to complete his half-century, ending a 106-run fifth wicket partnership.

Yashpal Singh gave the Punjab bowlers more nightmares as he stood like a rock at one end to keep the scoreboard ticking. He showed his class and temperament during this knock, going to his maiden ton in style as he lofted a flighted ball from Sawal for a six over long-off. His century came in 202 balls with 11 boundaries and a six.

Yashpal and CD Thomson were stabilising the innings when left-arm spinner Babloo Kumar gave a his team a double break as he bowled Thomson and trapped Javed in front. The Punjab skipper Vikram Rathore took the second new ball after 83 overs, with Services on 229/7. Yashpal was retired hurt, being struck on his left forearm by a lifting delivery.

Gagandeep took his fourth wicket as he got Sudhakar Ghag (0) caught at mid-off by Yuvraj. The end of the day's play was called at the fall of the eighth wicket, with Services still trailing by 62 runs with only two wickets remaining.

Delhi squander early advantage

Haryana's spinners struck vital blows in the post-tea session to bring down Delhi from a commanding position and reduce them to 288 for seven in the first innings in the North Zone Ranji tie.

Replying to Haryana's 316, Delhi failed to capitalise on a 121-run opening stand between Gautam Gambhir (91) and Akash copra (48). From a dominant position of 166 for two, Delhi collapsed to 260 for seven, with Amit Mishra striking thrice and Gautam Vashisht twice.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 282 for eight, Haryana added 34 runs in eight overs before Arun Singh ended the innings by taking the wickets of Sumit Narwal (39) and Nitin Aggarwal (11). The Delhi openers settled down early and soon got into an aggressive mode, hitting pace bowlers S Vidyut and Narwal all over the ground.

Just when the partnership was going strong, and the hosts were firmly on the road to a huge first innings score, Haryana got a breakthrough when Nitin Aggarwal's direct hit broke the stumps at the non-striker's end while Chopra was attempting a cheeky single.

Gambhir added 43 runs with new man Radhey Shyam Gupta. Just when he looked set for a well-deserved century, however, he was deceived as he jumped out to a flighted ball from Vashisht, keeper Ratra whipping off the bails in a flash.

Vashisht struck again after four overs, dismissing Gupta caught at silly point by Shafiq Khan with the scoreboard reading 179 for three. Haryana clawed their way back into the game, grabbing four more wickets within a space of 10 overs, the Mishra-Vashisht combination bowling accurately.

But Delhi skipper Mithun Manhas (45 off 32 balls) refused to give up and executed some powerful shots in trying to stem the rot. He collaborated with Pradeep Chawla to add 44 runs, even as Haryana's bowlers were on the rampage.

Manhas could not hold on for long, though, as he was trapped in front by Aggarwal. Even as Delhi's middle order failed, the tailenders not only showed resistance, but adopted attack as the best form of defence, with Sarandeep Singh (20) and Abhishek Sharma (23*) making some quick runs and hitting four boundaries each. Sharma and Amit Bandhari (4*) were at the crease, and the hosts still trailed by 28 runs, when stumps were drawn.

Himachal restrict Jammu and Kashmir

Host Himachal Pradesh bowled out Jammu and Kashmir for 187 in their first innings on the second day of North Zone Ranji tie at Mandi, thereby conceding a lead of 42 runs.

Accurate bowling by Vishal Bhatia (4-55) and Shakti Singh (3-71) helped Himachal Pradesh contain the visitors to a moderate score. Jammu and Kashmir failed to capitalise fully on Himachal Pradesh's low first-innings total, and none of the batsmen could put up a sizeable score. Abdul Qayoom was the highest scorer, making 32, followed by Vikrant Taggar with 31.

Resuming play at an overnight total of 21/1, Jammu and Kashmir lost Kavaljit Singh at 43, followed by opener Raju Seema at 51.

Himachal Pradesh, in reply, were 73 for two in the second innings, with both openers Nischal Gaur (18) and Sandeep Sharma (14) back in the pavilion. Rajiv Nayyar, however, who was unbeaten on 41 in the first innings, was at the crease on 17, while Sangram Singh was not out on 22 at the close of the day.

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