Dharamsala (HP), Dec 23 (PTI) Ankit R Kalsi (99) closed in on his third first class century as Himachal Pradesh put up a strong batting show to extend their lead to 117 after ending day two of their Ranji Elite Group B fixture against Tamil Nadu at 340 for five, here Sunday.

Kalsi (99 batting), Raghav Dhawan (71) and Rishi Dhawan (71 batting) helped Himachal Pradesh seize the advantage after their side lost early wickets. Tamil Nadu had scored 225 in their first innings.

Raghav (191 balls, 11X4) held firm after the hosts resumed at 25 for 1, as the visitors looked to pick up quick wickets. G K Singh (8) was the first to go this morning as T Natarajan had him caught by B Indrajith.

Ankush Bains fell after after putting on 26 runs with Dhawan as he was bowled by Abhishek Tanwar for 8 to leave HP at 57 for 3.

Opener Raghav and N R Gangta (43) forged an important partnership for the fourth wicket to steady the ship. They added 74 runs in over 23 overs.

The exit of Gangta brought Raghav and the left-handed Kalsi together. They started cautiously but grew in confidence to thwart the Tamil Nadu bowlers. Their 90-run association for the fifth wicket brought the host back into contention as the TN bowlers tried hard to pull things back.

Later, the unbroken 119-run stand between Kalsi and Rishi, who has featured in ODIs and a T20 International for the country, took the game away from Tamil Nadu.

After a period of circumspect batting, Kalsi and Rishi, especially the latter, took the attack to the rival camp.

Rishi looked in good touch, slamming 13 fours in his 82-ball knock of 71. Kalsi, on his part, has hit 15 boundaries so far.

Tamil Nadu skipper Indrajith tried seven bowlers but the HP batsmen were more than adept in handling their challenge.

Brief Scores (at end of day 2):

Tamil Nadu 225 all out in 78.4 overs (B Aparajith 53, Abhishek Tanwar 44, Dinesh Karthik 31, Pankaj Jaiswal 3 for 45) vs HP 340 for 5 in 88 overs overs (Raghav Dhawan 71, A R Kalsi 99 batting, Rishi Dhawan 71 batting, M Mohammed 2 for 67, T Natarajan 2 for 71). At Visakhapatnam: Bengal 300 all out in 111.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 90, Writtick Chaterjee 76, Pradipta Pramanik 43, Agniv Pan 39, K V Shasikanth 5 for 55) vs Andhra 108 for 2 in 43 overs (C R Gnaneshwar 64 batting, Jyothisaikrishna 43). At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 317 all out in 109.3 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 60, Akshat Reddy 77, Himalay Agarwal 79, Mayank Markande 6 for 84) vs Punjab 202 for 4 in 68 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 85, Mandeep Singh 46 batting).

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