Riding on centuries by openers -- Ankush Bains (114) and Prashant Chopra (101) -- Himachal Pradesh reached 259 for three in reply to Tripura first innings total of 285, at the end of second day's play of their Ranji Trophy Group C match here today.
Himachal now trail Tripura by just 26 runs with seven wickets remaining.
Resuming on 223 for seven, Tripura's overnight batsman Udiyan Bose, who was unbeaten on 95, failed to add any more run to his last night's score, thus missing out on his maiden first-class century.
Tripura added 62 runs to their overnight total to finish their first innings at 285.
Himachal then got off to an excellent start with Bains and Chopra putting on 210 runs for the opening wicket.
But once Chopra got out, Himachal lost two more wickets, which included Bains' scalp as well, in the span of just 17 runs.
Rana Dutta (3 for 26) was the pick of Tripura bowlers, claiming all three wickets that fell on the day.
Brief Scores:
Tripura 1st Innings: 285 all out in 107.4 overs (Udiyan Bose 95, Manisankar Murasingh 44; Akshay Chauhan 3/55)
Himachal Pradesh 1st Innings: 259 for 3 in 70 overs (Ankush Bains 114, Prashant Chopra 101; Rana Dutta 3/26).
