Dharmani has so far occupiedd the crease for 280 minutes, reached the fence 12 times and hit one huge six. He has faced 139 deliveries. This was his sixth hundred in the National Championship. Today, Dharmani completed 2000 runs when he reached 53.

Dharmani and Dinesh Mongia (79, 6x4s, 2x6s, 183 mts, 139 balls) also carried the score to 291 for 4 from 136 for 3. Their fourth wicket partnership yielded 155 runs. Pankaj Maitrey broke this partnership when he had Mongia caught in the second slip by GS Thapa in the 78th over.

Earlier, Vikram Rathore (47), Reetinder Sodhi (32 and Amit Sharma (35) laid the foundation for a big Punjab total.

The Services have been depleted with the absence of their captain and star player Chinmoy Sharma who has been reportedly not given permission. It is learnt that Chinmoy's services were sought by the Service Sports Control Board from the first week of October.

However, his unit informed the Service board that it would be in a position to relieve Chinmoy only in the middle of October. But that time, the SSCB asked the unit `better not to relieve him at this stage.' It is affecting the performance of the Services team as Chinmoy is a useful all-rounder.
Scoreboard
Punjab (Ist innings): Vikram Rathore c GS Thapa b Syed Javed 47, Reetinder Singh Sodhi st Sarabjit Singh b Pankaj Maitrey 32, Amit Sharma b S Kulkarni 35, Pankaj Dharmani batting 106, Dinesh Mongia c GS Thapa b Pankaj Maitrey 79, Sanjay Kumar batting 22. Extras (nb-10, lb-3) 13. Total (for four wickets) 334.
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-91, 3-136, 4-291.
Bowling: MV Rao 13-4-57-0, Syed Javed 16-0-67-1, Pankaj Maitrey 32-3-79-2, Sachin Kulkarni 19-1-86-1, CD Thompson 10-0-42-0.