Skipper Tanmay Agarwal and fellow-opener Rohit Rayudu laid a 214-run foundation before Tilak Varma and Ravi Teja provided the late impetus to give Hyderabad a resounding five-wicket victory over a previously-unbeaten Saurashtra in a third-round match in Group A of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over) cricket tournament here on Tuesday.
The hard-fought victory at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground saw Hyderabad join Saurashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh at eight points. Following their second loss, Gujarat and Tripura stayed on four points while Manipur searched for its first point.
In the other matches, UP chased down Gujarat’s 195 for nine to win by six wickets at Jamia Milia University ground, Chandigarh survived Tripura’s revival from 32 for four, by centurion Wriddhiman Saha, to win by four runs at the Air Force ground 2 and Himachal Pradesh expectedly tamed Manipur by 199 runs at the Air Force ground.
The target of 313 was made to look easy once Tanmay (124, 119b, 14x4, 2x6) and Rohit (83, 97b, 7x4, 2x6) brought Hyderabad within 99 runs of victory with 15.1 overs still to go.
With the pressure off, Tilak Varma and Ravi Teja added 60 runs off 44 balls for the third wicket. Hyderabad completed the chase in the 49th over.
Put in, Saurashtra raised a formidable-looking 312 for nine with opener Harvik Desai (102, 100b, 9x4, 2x6) smashing a second successive century in three days. He was associated in a 50-run second wicket stand with Cheteshwar Pujara (17, 36b, 1x4) another 66-run partnership with Arpit Vasavada (28, 37b, 2x4).
In a close match, Saha (101, 106b, 5x4, 3x6) and Rajat Dey (78, 87b, 5x4, 3x6) brightened Tripura’s fortunes with a 148-run stand for the fifth wicket in its chase of Chandigarh’s 255 for nine. Saha looked like taking Tripura to victory but his departure in the 49th over and dismissals of Abhijit Sarkar and Rana Datta in the final over gave Chandigarh a thrilling triumph.
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