Aakash Chopra and Ravneet Ricky struck confident centuries as North Zone took a vital first innings lead on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final against Sri Lanka 'A' in Kolkata on Monday.
Chopra (135 not out) and Ricky (122) stitched together a 214-run partnership for the second wicket as North Zone ended the day on 321 for 2.
Play was called off early due to bad light at the Eden Gardens.
North have a lead of 25 runs with eight wickets intact. The Sri Lankans had scored 296 in their first innings.
Skipper Mithun Manhas (batting 29) was giving company to Chopra at stumps.
The day started off sensationally, with North Zone losing opener Gautam Gambhir (7) to the second ball of the morning without any addition to the overnight score of 51/0.
The left-hander, who played sedately on Sunday, edged Ishara Amarasinghe's delivery onto his stumps. The early success seemed to have rejuvenated the tourists.
Chopra and Ricky, however, poured cold water on Sri Lankan excitement as they negotiated the initial movement in the pitch successfully before launching the attack. Ricky, lucky to survive on 5 when his nick of pacer Akalanka Ganegama was dropped by wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva, grew in confidence and the pair took North to 137/1 at lunch.
Chopra completed his hundred before the tea break by playing spinner Rangana Herath to deep cover for a couple. The opener took 228 balls to reach the personal milestone, his previous ton in first class cricket having come in 2003 while turning out for the Board President's XI against New Zealand.
Ricky got to his second Duleep Trophy century when he deftly placed Amarasinghe between mid wicket and square leg to pick two runs. He faced 183 balls and got to the mark in 255 minutes.
The Punjab batsman's earlier hundred had also come against a foreign side -- Zimbabwe -- last year.
At tea, North Zone were 231-1, forcing the Sri Lankans to adopt negative tactics of bowling outside the leg stump.
An exasperated Sri Lankan skipper Thilan Samaraweera took the new ball after 82 overs and Amarasinghe succeeded in breaking the partnership in the 84th over.
Ricky (227b, 307mins, 16x4, 1x6) played a tired shot away from his body to a rising ball and Samaraweera took a straight catch at second slip.
Chopra (307 b, 439 mins, 18x4) and Manhas (44b, 75 mins, 3x4) were then involved in an unbroken 56-run stand for the third wicket and helped North go past the Sri Lankan first innings total.
Scorecard
Sri Lanka 'A' (1st innings): 296
North Zone (1st innings): (overnight 51-0):
A Chopra batting 135
G Gambhir b Amarasinghe 7
R Ricky c Samaraweera b Amarasinghe 122
M Manhas batting 29
Extras: (b 4, lb 11, nb 11, w 2) 28
Total: (for two wickets, 98.2 overs) 321
Fall of wickets: 1/51 2/265
Bowling: Ganegama 22.2-3-71-0, Prasad 17-3-69-0, Amarasinghe 20-2-60-2, Herath 32-6-85-0, Mubarak 4-0-15-0, Chamara Silva 3-0-6-0.
