New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) Dhruv Shorey continued to be the shining light in an otherwise dull Ranji Trophy campaign for Delhi as the opener struck his third hundred of the season to put his side on course towards gaining a potentially decisive first innings lead against Andhra here on Thursday.

Shorey (142 batting) put his team in a solid position with the help of Hrithik Shokeen (45) and Himmat Singh (45 batting).

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Shorey is now leading the run-scorers chart this season with 744 runs and a few more expected to come on fourth morning.

Fading light forced an early stumps as Delhi reached 300 for four in 93 overs, trailing Andhra by 159 runs. The visitors had made 459 for nine in their first innings.

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It was another cold morning at the Arjun Jaitley Stadium and the air pollution made matters worse, especially for Andhra. Two of their players, Ricky Bhui and C R Gnaneshwar were wearing masks on the field.

As a smoggy sky made way bright sunshine, Shorey came into his elements. The 30-year-old, who had made 252 and 150 against Assam, played some exquisite shots on way to reaching three figures.

He was guilty to being stuck on 99 for a bit too long which also led to the run out of Vaibhav Rawal (25). Shorey finally reached the milestone with a flick off left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan. His unbeaten effort comprised 12 boundaries and a six.

With only one day left, getting the first innings lead will be decisive in the game and Delhi would be hoping that Shorey and Himmat extend their unbeaten 90-run partnership.

Delhi, who have witnessed frequent breakdown of their players this season, are already out of the contention for a spot in the knock-out phase.

The other problem has been young skipper Yash Dhull's complete reluctance to either open and even at times come in at No. 3 in testing conditions. For a player, who is considered to be an India prospect, the propensity to shy away from potentially challenging situations will not hold him in good stead as selectors look for fearless players.

Andhra wicketkeeper batter K S Bharat said his team would be eyeing early breakthroughs on Friday.

"If we would have taken one more wicket before stumps, it would have been good. If we can get early wickets tomorrow, scoring 140 odd runs on this wicket is a challenge," said Bharat

He also praised a heavily depleted Delhi's bowling attack for not allowing them to change gears on a flat pitch.

"They did not give us any loose balls. Only option was go over the top against the spinners but we were not in a situation to do that, we were just trying to build those partnerships," added Bharat.

Brief scores:

Brief scores: Andhra 459 for 9 decl vs Delhi 300/4 in 93 overs (Dhruv Shorey 142 batting; Shoab MD Khan 2/69).

At Mumbai: Mumbai 687 for four declared vs Assam 370 all out and 36/5 f/o (Swarupam Purkayastha 12 batting; Shardul Thakur 3/12). PTI

At Pune: Maharashtra 446 and 104/3 in 26 overs (Rahul Tripathi 61; Sandeep Warrier 3/37) vs Tamil Nadu 404 (Vijay Shankar batting 107; P C Dadhe 3/67). PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)