An unbeaten century by Yuvraj Singh put Punjab in a strong position on the second day of their 'Elite' Group A Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Mohali on Tuesday.
In reply to Delhi's first innings score of 310, the hosts reached 224 for two at stumps with Yuvraj batting on 106 and Pankaj Dharmani on 73.
Yuvraj, who was overlooked by the national selectors for India's tour of Australia, put behind the disappointment to score a majestic century at the PCA ground.
Yuvraj and Dharmani have so far added 148 runs in an unfinished third-wicket partnership.
Earlier, Gagandeep Singh's five-wicket haul restricted Delhi, who started the day on 274 for seven, to 310, with overnight batsmen Varun Kumar and Sarandeep Singh making 50 and 27 respectively.
Amit Uniyal claimed three wickets and Vineet Sharma scalped two.
Punjab captain Dinesh Mongia disappointed the local crowd as he could manage only four runs before being snared by N S Negi, who also accounted for the other home side batsman to be dismissed on the day.
Scoreboard
Delhi (1st innings):
Salil Oberoi lbw Vineet 0
Rajat Bhatia lbw Gagandeep 4
Rajan Gupta lbw Uniyal 19
Mithun Manhas c Madan b Vineet 129
Ajay Jadeja c Madan b Uniyal 1
Pradeep Chawla c Madan b Gagandeep 39
Varun Kumar b Gagandeep 50
N S Negi b Gagandeep 2
Sarandeep Singh b Uniyal 27
Kunal Lal lbw Gagandeep 11
Sanjay Gill not out 1
Extras: (lb-10, nb-15, w-2) 27
Total: (all out, 96.4 overs) 310
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-6, 3-34, 4-37, 5-135, 6-249, 7-259, 8-274, 9-308, 10-310.
Bowling: Vineet Sharma 25-6-87-2, Gagandeep 25-8-55-5, Amit Uniyal 16.4-2-69-3, Reetinder Sodhi 11-2-41-0 Navdeep Singh 14-2-35-0, Ravneet Ricky 1-0-4-0, Dinesh Mongia 4-0-9-0.
Punjab (1st innings):
Ravneet Ricky lbw b Negi 25
Yuvraj Singh batting 106
Dinesh Mongia lbw Negi 4
Pankaj Dharmani batting 73
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, nb-11, w-1) 16
Total: (for 2 wkts in 68.2 overs) 224
Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-76
Bowling: Sanjay Gill 18-0-59-0, Kunal Lal 11-2-44-0, Narender Negi 17-2-57-2, Sarandeep Singh 12-1-43-0, Rajat Bhatia 9.2-5-16-0, Ajay Jadeja 1-0-1-0.
