Thanks to some fine batting by opener Manender Singh and Mahipal Lomror, Rajasthan ensured an emphatic nine-wicket win over Hyderabad on the third day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday.
Resuming the day on 101 for six, Hyderabad was bowled out for 156. The total was obtained due in main to the belligerence of the seasoned opener P. Akshath Reddy, who cracked his first half-century (71, 162b, 8x4, 2x6) of the season. Rajasthan's left-arm pace duo of Aniket Choudhary and Tanveer-ul-Haq cleverly preferred to bowl short-pitched to repeatedly unsettle the batsmen and they were successful, too.
RANJI TROPHY ROUND VII DAY III | AS IT HAPPENED
Chama Milind was the first to go when he ducked, expecting a bouncer and only able to spoon up a simple catch, as Aniket’s length ball never really rose.
Then, Mehdi Hasan played the most irresponsible stroke of the day. After slashing Tanveer uppishly to the third man fence, he saw his senior partner Akshath walk down and have a word of caution with him; off the next ball, he repeated the stroke only to edge to wicketkeeper, to the dismay of his team-mates.
Meaning business
But at the other end, Akshath still meant business. He hooked over the fence and then played a whip off Aniket. Later, he also cover-drove Tanveer with elan. Just when he was threatening to score a few more important runs, Rajasthan captain Ashok Menaria’s gamble of brining on part-time slow bowler Mahipal Lomror payed off. Menaria lured Akshath into an ambitious lofted stroke; he was bowled.
Set a target of 193, much was expected from the Hyderabad bowling attack after the way it rose to the occasion on the second day under pressure. But star bowler Ravi Kiran failed to find the rhythm on a pitch which eased up considerably, and did not provide the breakthroughs. The rest of the bowlers struggled, and pacer Ravi Teja took the only wicket to fall — Yash Kothari lbw on the stroke of lunch.
After that, the fight was never really on as Manender (107 n.o., 147b, 14x4) and southpaw Lomror (71 n.o., 114b, 8x4, 1x6) put on 176 runs (unbeaten) for the first wicket. It ensured that Hyderabad suffered its sixth defeat in seven matches this season to be at the bottom of the table with six points. It has one last match against Vidarbha from February 12 at home.
Manender was undoubtedly very lucky to be dropped thrice — on 49, 76 and 98 — and ironically, slip fielder Jaweed Ali was the culprit on all three occasions, off spinners Saaketh and Mehdi Hasan. But importantly, the two played some exquisite strokes as the innings progressed and ensured that there was no way back for the home team.
- Hyderabad - 1st innings 171.
- Rajasthan - 1st innings: 135.
- Hyderabad - 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Rituraj b Tanveer 16, P. Akshath Reddy b Lomror 71, B. Sandeep b Tanveer 9, Himalay Agarwal c Rituraj b Aniket 2, Jaweed Ali c Manender b Aniket 0, K. Sumanth c Garhwal b Shubham 3, T. Ravi Teja c Kothari b Aniket 20, C. V. Milind c Kothari b Aniket 2, Mehdi Hasan c Manender b Tanveer 7, Saaketh Sai Ram st Manender b Shubham 10, Ravi Kiran (not out) 6.
- Extras: (w-6, lb-4) 10.
- Total: (all out in 53.4 overs) 156.
- Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-46, 3-53, 4-53, 5-68, 6-101, 7-103, 8-112, 9-146, 10-156.
- Rajasthan bowling: Aniket 20-6-48-4, Tanveer 14-2-44-3, Rituraj 12-3-30-0, Shubham 6-1-22-2, Lomror 1.4-0-8-1.
- Rajasthan - 2nd innings: Yash Kothari lbw b Ravi Teja 6, Manender Singh (not out) 107, Mahipal Lomror (not out) 71.
- Extras: (nb-4, w-1, b-4, lb-2) 11.
- Total: (for one wkt in 48.5 overs) 195.
- Fall of wickets: 1-19.
- Hyderabad bowling: Ravi Kiran 11-3-44-0, Chama Milind 10-1-22-0, Ravi Teja 9-0-45-1, Mehdi Hasan 9.5-0-38-0, Saaketh 7-0-35-0, Sandeep 2-1-5-0.
- Result: Rajasthan won by nine wkts.
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