A brilliant show by the pace duo of Mohammed Siraj (four for 42) and Ravi Kiran (three for 36) helped Hyderabad bowl Karnataka out for 183 in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ encounter here on Tuesday. Hyderabad, which had lost eight days of play due to rain before arriving here, moved to 51 for three in reply.
READ: Siraj - ‘I owe a lot to Bhuvi bhai for sharing invaluable tips’
The strong Karnataka batting line-up fell flat, folding for a paltry score at the stroke of Tea. Much was expected from India internationals K.L. Rahul (4) and Karun Nair (23), but both batsmen failed to impress. An unplayable delivery from Kiran squared Rahul up, went past his outside edge, and hit the off-stump.
Kiran dismissed Karun as well, the ball going through bat and pad and onto the wickets. The fast bowler had his third victim in five-drop Shreyas Gopal, who edged one to the wicket-keeper Kolla Sumanth.
While Kiran took the ball away, Siraj brought it in. Opener R. Samarth, the first wicket to fall on the day, was trapped on the pads with a yorker that tailed in a long way. In the very same over, Siraj sent Mayank Agarwal back with a beauty. Mayank shouldered arms to a length ball outside off, and watched his off-peg take a walk.
Only Stuart Binny (61, 88b, 8x4) made a mark with the bat. Binny took a liking to leg-spinner Akash Bhandari, frequently using the reverse-sweep to find the boundaries. After putting on a 56-run seventh-wicket partnership with K. Gowtham, Binny was trapped leg-before by Siraj. Gowtham, who scored 149 in the previous match , then spooned a catch to Ambati Rayadu at mid-off.
Siraj celebrated his maiden international call-up with a fine four-wicket haul. There was cause for worry when Siraj held his hip in pain after completing his 15th over. Siraj said later that it was but a minor strain, and that he was "100 per cent fit".
In reply, the visitor was less than convincing. Opener Tanmay Agarwal was run-out attempting a needless third, while Akshath Reddy and Rayudu let the side down with poor shot selection. With only half an hour left for close of play, Akshath lifted off-spinner Gowtham to long-on. The vastly experienced Rayudu similarly threw it away soon after, losing his stumps to an ugly cross-batted hoick.
Brief scores: Day 1 - At Stumps
Karnataka - 1st innings: 183 all out (Stuart Binny 61, Karun Nair 23; Mohammed Siraj 15-1-42-4, Ravi Kiran 12.5-2-36-3)
Hyderabad - 1st innings: 51 for 3 (K. Sumanth 34 n.o.; K. Gowtham 7-1-22-2)
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