Hyderabad stared at a probable defeat in the face of a fine spell by left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore and then a batting assault by openers B. Sai Sudarsan and N. Jagadeesan before bad light prevented what could have been a thrilling win for Tamil Nadu on the final day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 28 for no loss after conceding a first innings lead of 115, Hyderabad looked good at 100 for no loss when captain Tanmay Agarwal (46, 76b, 5x4, 16) and Tanay Thyagarajan (69, 137b, 9x4)) were at the crease.
But once, Tanmay stepped out only to hole out to the fielder in the deep off Sai Kishore, Tamil Nadu came back strongly thanks to the spinner’s five-wicket haul as he bowled a teasing line and length, getting the ball to kick off too. He even had the liberty of attacking batters with nine fielders around them and the first innings centurion Mickil Jaiswal was a victim of this ploy.
Once the well-set Thyagarajan was cleaned up by Sai Kishore with one which spun back sharply from outside the off-stump and later Mir Jaweed Ali steer into the lone slip fielder’s hands in the same over, Tamil Nadu was back on top.
But, Tamil Nadu’s hopes for a quick end were thwarted by a gritty 10th wicket stand between Prateek Reddy and B. Punnaiah, in terms of staying at the crease for eight overs.
Eventually, Tamil Nadu was set a daunting target of 144 in 11 possible overs to score an outright win.
Then, Sudharsan (42, 20b, 5x4) and Jagadeesan (59, 22b, 8x6) gave some anxious moments to the home team with some extraordinary strokes all round the wicket before bad light stopped play at 108 for 1 in seven overs much to the relief of Hyderabad players.
The scores: Hyderabad - 1st innings: 395
Tamil Nadu - 1st innings: 510 for 4 decl
Hyderabad - 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Aparajith b Sai Kishore 46, Abhirath Reddy c Aparajith b Vijay 19, Tanay Thyagarajan b Sai Kishore 69, K. Rohit Rayudu c Jagadeesan b Warrier 45, Jaweed Ali c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, T. Ravi Teja c Aswin b Vignesh 12, Mickil Jaiswal c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 13, Prateek Reddy c Warrier b Aparajith 24, G. Anikethreddy lbw b Sai Kishore 19, Karthikeya Kak c Pradosh b Vignesh 0, Bhuvanagiri Punnaiah not out 0.
Extras: (b-5, lb-5, w-1) 11.
Total: (all out in 85 overs) 258.
Fall of wickets: 1-90, 1-101, 3-158, 4-158, 5-175, 6-204, 7-208, 8-227, 9-232, 10-258.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Vignesh 19-3-71-2, Warrier 18-7-33-1, Aswin 7-0-20-0, Sai Kishore 28-5-101-5, Vijay 3-0-10-1, Aparajith 10-6-13-1.
Tamil Nadu - 2nd innings: B. Sai Sudharsan c Rohit b Karthikeya 42, N. Jagadeesan not out 59, B. Aparajith not out 1. Extras: (b-3, w-2, nb-1) 6. Total: (for one wkt in 7 overs) 108.
Fall of wickets: 1-93.
Hyderabad bowling: Karthikeya 3-0-41-1, Ravi Teja 3-0-42-0, Punnaiah 1-0-23-0.
Result: Match drawn.
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