Aakash Chopra fell 12 short of a double hundred as North Zone went on a run-feast and entrenched themselves in the driver's seat on the third day of the Duleep Trophy final against Sri Lanka 'A' in Kolkata on Tuesday.
With two full days' play remaining, North are within sniffing distance of the title, having opened up a mammoth 331-run first innings lead on a docile track at the Eden Gardens.
Apart from Chopra's brilliant 188, Yashpal Singh struck a fluent 77, Joginder Sharma plundered 72, while wicketkeeper batsman Mahesh Rawat remained unbeaten on 96 as North reached 627-7 at close, in reply to Sri Lanka A's first innings' 296.
Resuming at 321-2, North lost skipper Mithun Manhas (29) in the second over of the day. Manhas was rapped on the pad by an incoming delivery from pacer Ishara Amarasinghe.
Chopra and Yashpal Singh then added 88 runs for the fourth wicket before left-arm spinner Rangana Herath plotted the dismissal of the discarded India opener.
The 29-year-old Delhi batsman shouldered arms to a straight delivery that hit him on the pad and the Delhi willower seemed a trifle upset by the decision.
The right-hander, keen to get back into the India team, struck 26 boundaries and faced 400 balls during his chanceless knock, that took all of 574 minutes.
Scorecard
Sri Lanka A (1st innings): 296
North Zone (1st innings): (321/2 overnight)
A Chopra lbw b Herath 188
G Gambhir b Amarasinghe 7
R Ricky c Samaraweera b Amarasinghe 122
M Manhas lbw b Amarasinghe 29
Yashpal Singh lbw b Mubarak 77
M Rawat batting 96
J Sharma c C Silva b Herath 72
S Rana c C Silva b Herath 0
Gagandeep Singh batting 1
Extras: (b 6, lb 12, nb 15, w 2) 35
Total: (for seven wickets, 189 overs) 627
Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-265, 3-323, 4-411, 5-490, 6-614, 7-618.
Bowling: Ganegama 31-6-104-0, Prasad 29-3-116-0, Amarasinghe 36-2-115-3, Herath 65-13-201-3, Mubarak 15-1-34-1, Chamara Silva 10-0-29-0, Samaraweera 3-0-10-0.
