Gambhir, Chopra saves Delhi the blushes; scores century each

Dharamsala, Dec 3 (UNI) Delhi roared back into the match against Himachal Pradesh, riding on centuries by Akash Chopra(146 not out) and stylish southpaw Gautam Gambhir (103) scored 335 for three on the third day of the four day Ranji Trophy group A tie here today.

After being bundled out for a paltry 75 in the first innings and being made to follow on, the pressure was on the visitors to show their mettle.

Resuming at their overnight score at 38 for no loss, the star studded Delhi team started on a wrong note losing the wicket of Team India discard Virender Sehwag in the seventh over of the their second essay. He scored 32, adding just one run to his overnight score.

What followed after that was some gritty perfomances from two players --Akash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir. Both the players played with gutso and notched up their respective centuries.

Gambhir scored 103 which was studded with 11 boundaries. He was caught by wicketkeeper Maninder Bisla of the bowling of left-arm seamer Ashok Thakur. Incidentally, Thakur was also the main bowler for Himachal, picking up three wickets.

Chopra, who remained unbeaten on 146, on the other hand continued nonchalantly even after the departure of Gambhir. He struck 15 hits to the fence and one over it in his knock. He is joined by Mithun Manhas, after left handed batsmen Shikhar Dhawan (13) was castled by Thakur when the score was at 310 in the 81st over. Delhi ultimately ended the day at 335 for the loss of three wickets with one more day to go in the match.

For Himachal, Thakur was also the main bowler, picking up three wickets. Taking his wickets tally to 7 wickets, four from the