Gautam Gambhir kept himself in the hunt for a place in the Indian team's first XI against England in the first Test starting November 9 by hitting patient 147 helping Delhi take a substancial first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy group B encounter here on Friday.
After bowling out Odisha for 237 in the first innings, Delhi rode on skipper Gambhir's 39th first-class ton to reach 351 for seven at stumps on the second day thereby taking a 114-run lead.
Gambhir faced 232 balls hitting 18 fours in the process. He showed a lot of patience, waiting for the loose deliveries. He used his feet to good effect against spin duo of left-arm slow bowler Dhiraj Singh and off-spinner Gobind Poddar.
The other significant contributor was Rishabh Pant, who smashed his way to a quickfire 60 off 56 balls comrising six fours and two sixes.
HP bowled out for 36
Guwahati: Himachal Pradesh were sent crashing to 36 all out, the fourth-lowest total in the Ranji Trophy since 2000, by Hyderabad as a staggering 15 wickets fell on day two of the Group C match here.
None of Himachal's batsmen got into double digits as seamers M Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind ran through the top- order before legspinner Akash Bhandari snared four wickets without conceding a run to demolish the tail. Owing to Rishi's figures of 6/35, Himachal managed to limit Hyderabad to 99 for seven at stumps, a lead of 63 runs with three first-innings remaining.