Rohit Rayudu cracked his second century in the on-going Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament (Group D matches) to script Hyderabad’s impressive 149-run win over Jammu & Kashmir at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Monday.
Electing to bat, Hyderabad lost its seasoned opener Akshath Reddy (18) in the ninth over to pacer Umar Nazir and soon the spirited fast bowler struck two more quick blows sending back T. Ravi Teja (2) and pinch-hitter Mehdi Hasan (1) to leave the home struggling at 41 for three in 10.6 overs.
Then, the in-form opener Rayudu and the ever-reliable southpaw B. Sandeep put on a 171-run stand for the fourth wicket which dashed whatever hopes J & K had of restricting the opposition to a modest score.
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Rayudu (130, 130b, 11 x 4, 3 x 6) grew in confidence as the innings progressed even as Sandeep meant business straight away with emphasis on timing and picking the gaps with ease to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The 24-year-old Rayudu seized on the huge slice of luck when cover fielder Puneet Kumar dropped a catch off Shubham Khajuria, in the only over he bowled, when he was on 49. After that, he never really looked back, treating the bowling on merit.
But, once Sandeep departed in the 37th over, bowled by pacer Rohit Sharma, it was the young opener who held one end up to help the team cross the 300-mark.
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For J&K, Umar Nazir was the pick of the bowlers with his five-wicket haul while captain and off-break bowler Parvez Rasool went wicketless.
There was nothing much to rave about J&K batting except for the gritty Shubham Khajuria (35, 54b, 3 x 4) and the belligerent Puneet Kumar (43, 34b, 4 x 4, 3 x 6), who hit two sixes and two fours in one over from leggie Akash Bhandari before perishing in the same over to the delight of the Hyderabad camp.
In another match, Saurabh Tiwary’s century (107,105b, 8 x 4, 3 x 6) went in vain for Jharkhand as Chhattisgarh notched up a seven-wicket win while Saurashtra, with an eye on the NRR, recorded an eight-wicket win over Services chasing 177 in just 21.4 overs thanks to opener Samarth Vyas’unbeaten 114 (66b, 12 x 4, 8 x 6).
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Breif scores
Hyderabad 312 for 9 in 50 overs (Rohit Rayudu 130, B. Sandeep 72, Umar Nazir 5 for 52) beat J&K 163 in 34.1 overs (Puneet Kumar 43, Akash Bhandari 3 for 34) by 149 runs.
Services 176 in 48.2 overs (Soumik Chatterjee 52, H.R. Sethi 33, Dharmendra Jadeja 4 for 26) lost to Saurashtra 181 for 2 in 21.4 overs (Samarth Vyas 114*, Cheteshwar Pujara 45*) by 8 wickets.
Jharkhand 288 for 9 in 50 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 107, Kumar Deobrat 51, Pankaj Rao 4 for 43) lost to Chhattisgarh 294 for 3 in 46 overs (Shashank Chandrakar 61, Manoj Singh 54*, A.N. Khare 76, Vishal Singh 40*) by 7 wickets.
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