Sandeep helps Himachal finish on equal footing

Himachal Pradesh opener Sandeep Sharma kept the suspense on host Delhi till the last minute of their four-day match and had the satisfaction...

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Himachal Pradesh opener Sandeep Sharma kept the suspense on host Delhi till the last minute of their four-day match and had the satisfaction of saving the game for his beleagured side.

The final day’s play turned out to be an anti-climax for the hosts who were expected to go all out for a win. But a a superb 170 by opener Sandeep Sharma and his 90-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Virender Sharma helped Himachal Pradesh save their honour.

Himachal, who needed to bat through the final day to salvage at least a draw after Delhi took a huge 262-run first innings lead, finished on 331 for eight to force the draw.

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Resuming at the overnight score of 50 for no loss, Himachal found themselves in a spot of bother losing four quick wickets for 136 runs soon after lunch.

But Sandeep Sharma stood tall among the ruins and crafted a fine knock studded with 24 boundaries and two towering sixes.

Scoreboard

HP 1st innings: 244; Delhi 1st inngs: 506 for 6 decl. Himachal Pradesh 2nd inngs: N Gaur c Dahiya b Arun Singh 22, Sandeep Sharma c Siddharth b Manhas 170, V Rathore run out 21, R Nayyar c Sidddharth b Sarandeep 12, Sangram Singh b Bhandari 13, Amit Sharma c Gambhir b Abhishek 27, Virender Sharma c Chopra b Bhandari 48, A Kapoor c Chopra b Sanghvi 4, R Panta not out 0, Extras (b-2, lb-9, nb-3) 14; Total: (for 8 wkts decl., 111.4 overs) 331
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-82, 3-105, 4-136, 5-193, 6-283,7-315, 8-331; Bowling: Bhandari 26-4-100-2, A Singh 15-1-72-1, S Singh 29-10-72-1, A Sharma 17-4-43-1, Sanghvi 22-12-28-1, Manhas 2.4-0-5-1