An unbeaten 172 by opener Ravneet Singh Ricky helped hosts Punjab get a 192-run first innings lead over Hyderabad on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite 'B' Group match at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Saturday.
Ricky established a 213-run fourth-wicket partnership with Gaurav Gupta (107) and shared 148 runs for fifth wicket with Muneesh Sharma (66 batting) as Punjab scored 392 for four when stumps were drawn.
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Resuming at overnight score of 84 for three, in reply to Hyderabad's 200, Punjab had to spared only one wicket, that of Gupta's, as bowlers failed to get any help from the wicket.
After as many as 13 wickets were lost on the opening day, Ricky, Gupta and Sharma scored at will today.
Gupta was out leg before to N P Singh when Punjab were leading by 44 runs on 244. Ricky and the new batsman Sharma maintained the run rate and ended the day on a comfortable note.
Ricky's knock was aided by 23 hits to the fence while Sharma had scored 66 with the help of eleven hits to the fence.
Ricky scored his highest score in the 72nd innings of his 47th match. His earlier highest of 134 was also incidentally at the same venue and against the same team (Hyderabad) in 1999.
Scorecard
Hyderabad (1st innings): 200
Punjab (1st innings):
R Ricky not out 172
S Sohal c Khaleel b Absolem 1
D Mongia c Khaleel b Singh 6
P Dharmani lbw b Singh 12
G Gupta lbw b Singh 107
Muneesh Sharma not out 66
Extras: (b 6, lb 13, w 1, nb 8) 28
Total: (for 4 wickets, 121 overs) 392
To bat: U Kaul, A Uniyal, Gagandeep Singh, H Sandhu, L Ablash.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-17, 3-31, 4-244.
Bowling: Singh 24-7-72-3 (4nb), Absolem 28-3-92-1 (1nb, 1w), Kaushik Reddy 28-8-72-0, Manohar 5-0-17-0, Ojha 24-1-82-0 (3nb), Shinde 12-2-38-0.
