Delhi, after being forced to follow on, fared much better scoring 246 for 2 in 43 overs against Himachal Pradesh on the second day of their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy league match at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds on Thursday.

Delhi, in reply to Himachal's score of 293, started their first innings on a disastrous note, losing the first five wickets for 25 runs in 9.1 overs. Then a 89-run stand for the sixth wicket between wicketkeeper Dwpender Bola and Kunal Lal (34) lent some respectability to the score. Dwpender Bola was the top scorer with 54 runs having faced 104 balls which included seven boundaries. Once this partnership was broken, there was little substance in the batting and Delhi were all out for 133 in 45 overs. For Himachal, the pick of the bowlers was the new ball bowler Mohan Singh who had figures of 5 for 42.

Delhi got off to a fine start in their second innings with openers Gautam Gambhir and Dhruv Mohan (26) putting on a 70-run partnership. The fall of Dhruv Mohan to Paras Dogra bought Rajeev Uniyal to the crease. Both Uniyal and Gambhir, the Delhi skipper, produced a stand worth 87 runs for the second wicket in 17.2 overs before Gambhir was out to Hitesh Angrish for a well made 92 off just 87 balls. He hit nine fours.

Dilip then joined Uniyal in producing an unfinished stand of 89 runs for the third wicket till stumps. While Dilip was unbeaten on 32, Uniyal ended the day at 90 . He faced 99 balls and hit eleven fours and a six.

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