A fifer from Kartikeya Kak and a rapid century from captain Rahul Singh helped Hyderabad to a facile win over Meghalaya in a Group B fixture of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Despite the win, the team failed to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament with other results on the day failing to go its way.
Chasing a modest target of 159, Hyderabad suffered an early setback when Rohit Rayudu was trapped in front by Lakhan Singh for nought.
Tanmay Agarwal (49, 54b, 8x4) and Rahul (105, 56b, 10x4, 7x6) rebuilt the innings until the lunch break, after which the batters showed their full array of attacking strokes, hammering the opposition bowlers to all parts of the ground.
With Tanmay motoring along at one end, Rahul took up the mantle of the aggressor as he punished any misgivings in length from the pacers and spinners alike.
Lakhan felt the full force of Rahul’s attacking prowess as he was clobbered for three fours and three sixes in his third over to take Hyderabad to within touching distance of the target.
Rahul brought up his century off 51 balls with a boundary through cover before the pair finished the chase in 18.4 overs to secure the team’s fourth win of the tournament.
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Earlier, after being inserted into bat, Meghalaya got off to a tepid start before skipper Raj Biswa found the point fielder with a cut shot in the seventh over, handing Kak his first wicket.
Wicketkeeper Nakul Verma held the fort for a while along with Bamanbha Shangpliang before the latter was bowled by Nitin Sai Yadav, trying to leap down the ground and launch one over mid-on.
Verma perished for 21 off 39 balls after failing to make his ground in time and Kishan Lyndoh handed a simple return catch to Tanay Thyagarajan in the next over to leave the team tottering at 56 for four.
Former Kenya international Tanmay Mishra (49, 73b, 5x4, 1x6) and Jaskirat Singh staged a revival, combining for a 69-run partnership off 86 deliveries to take the team past the 100-run mark.
Jaskirat, followed by Swarajeet Das were trapped in front by Rayudu in quick succession after which the lower order was blown away by Kak.
The pacer kept it simple, bowling it quick, attacking the stumps, putting the batters in an uncomfortable position. Lerry Sangma saw his middle stump knocked back by Kak following which Rajesh Bishnoi edged his attempted upper-cut back to the keeper.
Mishra fell short of his fifty, holing out to deep mid-wicket before Kak completed his five-wicket haul by castling Lakhan with the first ball off his final over.
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