Dhawan, Chopra stars as Delhi crush Punjab

NEW DELHI, February 28: Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra remained unconquered with sparkling tons as Delhi crushed Punjab by 10 wickets on home ground in their North Zone One-day league match on Thursday.
Dhawan smashed an unbeaten 139 off 121 balls and Chopra hit a 130 not out from 140 deliveries to help Delhi post 277 for no loss in 43.3 overs, in reply to Punjab's 274 for eight after electing to bat at the Ferozshah Kotla ground.
Ravinder Singh (64), Uday Kaul (64) and Ankur Kakkar (59) scored a half century each while Pankaj Dharmani and VRV Singh produced useful 33 and 30 not out respectively to guide Punjab to the competitive total.
Half centuries by Hemant Dogra (74) and Sandeep Sharma (59) helped Himachal Pradesh thrash Haryana by eight wickets in another lop-sided match played at the Harbaksh Stadium.
Chasing 193, which Haryana scored in 49.5 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat, HP posted 197 for loss of only two wickets in 44 overs to romp home.
Paras Dogra added crucial 37 not out to the HP score. Vishal Bhatia picked four for 32 to restrict Haryana to the moderate total which was made possible by Sachin Rana (73) and Amardeep Sonkar (32)
Put in to bat, Services beat Jammu and Kashmir by 96 runs at Palam ground.
After Jasvir Singh (73) and Soumik Chatterjee (71 not out) shone with bat in Services' 281 for six in 50 overs, Arnav Kush picked three for 37 to restrict Jammu and Kashmir to 185 in 48.2 overs.
None of the J-K batsman could reach even a half century mark as Ian Dev Singh (46) and Vijay Sharma (39) were the highest scorers.
Brief scores:
Punjab 274 for eight in 50 overs (Ravinder Singh 64, Uday Kaul 64, Ankur Kakkar 59, Pankaj Dharmani 33, VRV Singh 30 not out) lost to Delhi 277 for no loss in 43.3 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 139 not out (121 balls, 19x4), Aakash Chopra 130 not out (140 balls, 18x4).
Haryana 193 in 49.5 overs (Sachin Rana 73, Amardeep Sonkar 32 32, Vishal Bhatia four for 32) lost to HP 197 for two in 44 overs (Hemant Dogra 74, Sandeep Sharma 59, Paras Dogra 37 not out).
Services 281 for six in 50 overs (Jasvir Singh 73, Soumik Chatternot out) beat J&K 185 in 48.2 overs (Ian Dev Singh 46, Vijay Sharma 39, Arnav Kush three for 37).