Rahul Dewan strikes ton but Haryana reduced to 256/7 at lunch

Responding to the visitors' first innings total of 521, Haryana were done in by a middle-order collpase despite the strong start they made yesterday.

At the break, Rahul was unbeaten on 112 with Amit Vashisht (8) giving him company at the other end.

Resuming at overnight 172 for four, the fall of wickets started pretty early for Haryana as Sandeep Singh departed after a 35-ball five, including a four.

Amit Mishra (17) and Jayant Yadav (17) provided brief company to Rahul before falling to Stuart Meaker, who is in the team as cover for the injured Steven Finn.

The regular fall of wickets, however, did little to affect Rahul's morale as he held one end. The opener has so far faced 267 deliveries in his 250-minute stay and has struck 14 boundaries.

For England, pacers Tim Bresnan and Meaker did most of the damage by sharing five wickets between them -- three of them going in the former's kitty.