Chopra hits 338 as HP score 729/8

Opener Prashant Chopra hit the first triple hundred of the current first-class season as Himachal Pradesh piled up a massive 729 for 8 declared against Punjab on the second day of the Ranji Trophy group D encounter.

At stumps, Punjab were 110 for 1 with Jiwanjot Singh unbeaten on 34 in company of Uday Kaul (2 batting). Opener Pargat Singh scored an attacking 64 off 69 balls before being dismissed. The match however belong to Chopra, who had scored in excess of 900 runs last season and was recently a part of the India A team.

In another group B match at the Palam Ground in Delhi, Bengal declared their first innings at 552 for 9, with top three players Sudeep Chatterjee (115), skipper Manoj Tiwary (69) and Wriddhiman Saha (55) amongst runs. In reply, Services were 103 for 1 at stumps on the second day with Mohammed Shami (1/33) getting the only wicket. The highlight of the second day's play was Ashok Dinda's 25-ball-55 with eight boundaries and two sixes. With Mohammed Shami (23), the final wicket yielded 77 runs for Bengal to take their score past 550 runs. Before that, Amir Gani (51) added 76 runs with Kanishk Seth (30) for the eighth wicket.

Brief Scores (Group D) Himachal Pradesh 729/8 dec(Prashant Chopra 338, Paras Dogra 99). Punjab 110/1 (Pargat Singh 64) Bengal 552/9 decl (Sudeep Chatterjee 115, Manoj Tiwary 69, Wriddhiman Saha 55). Serv- ices 103/1. Chattisgarh 458 all out (Manoj Singh 125, Mohammed Kaif 61, Jatin Saxena 82). Goa 28/0.