Underrated Rahul, Himateja keep Hyderabad afloat; Rakshan bags four Mumbai wickets

G Rahul Singh is the most underrated cricketer in Hyderabad. Rahul, despite being snubbed by the selectors and demoted from the captaincy, took up the challenge and produced yet another brilliant knock to help the hosts reach 138 for two at stumps on the second day of their four-day Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

Replying to Mumbai’s massive 560, Hyderabad began disastrously as they lost opener M Abhirath Reddy with just four on the board. Abhirath (4) was cleaned up by pacer Tushar Deshpande off the sixth ball of the innings.

Vice-captain Rahul Singh joined debutant P Aman Rao and took charge of the proceedings. While Aman was trying to settle down, the experienced Rahul took on the bowlers.

Aman, who had displayed rich form in the last couple of months and had even smashed a double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy – a feat no other Hyderabad batter has done before, was a bit tentative.

Aman felt the pressure of a big match and was quite watchful in his short innings. He and Rahul added 34 for the second wicket with senior partner Rahul doing the bulk of the scoring.

Aman’s laborious 30-ball innings came to an end when he was castled by Himanshu Singh. Hyderabad were reduced to 38 for two.

Rahul, who was adventurous till that point, toned down his batting. He and Himateja put their heads down and worked on rebuilding the innings.

Thereafter, Rahul, who had scored three half-centuries in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Himateja kept the Mumbai bowlers at bay. The duo added 100 off 180 balls for the unbroken third wicket to help Hyderabad round off a good day on the field.

Rahul puts all his experience to work

The 30-year-old Rahul was batting on 82 off 129 balls with 11 fours and a six. Rahul, who had also played for Services earlier, brought to fore the kind of temperament that is needed to succeed. He also struck boundaries to all parts of the ground, three fours on the off-side, two of them down the ground and the rest of his pads.

Rahul looks good for his 13th First Class century, but he will have to negotiate the morning conditions as that is the time when the bowlers are getting help from the wicket.

The 24-year-old southpaw Himateja, who scored 66 against Puducherry earlier in the season, lent admirable support to Rahul. Himateja was willing to play the waiting game while absorbing all the pressure from the rival bowlers.

Himateja was batting on 40 off 84 balls and struck six boundaries in his innings thus far.

With still 422 runs in arrears, Hyderabad are far from safe but if Rahul and Himateja can manage to hold on for a longer period on the morrow, the hosts can pull off a draw. A victory was out of the cards even before the match started, though it was a good dream to have.

Sarfaraz hammers double century

Sarfaraz Khan scored a double century (227) to put Mumbai firmly in control of the game

The first part of the day belonged to pacer Rakshan Readdi, who took four wickets for 107 runs to restrict Mumbai to 560. He began by having Himanshu Singh (1) caught by Aman Rao.

But Sarfaraz and Suved Parkar put paid to Hyderabad’s hopes of wiping out the Mumbai batting. Sarfaraz Khan, who has a penchant for scoring runs by the tons, struck a double century to put Mumbai on top. His 227 came off 219 balls and contained 19 fours and nine sixes.

The right-handed batter took on the Hyderabad pacers as well as the spinners with disdain. A break-up of his runs from each bowler shows how evenly he balanced his innings.

He got 43 runs off 50 balls from Rakshan, 45 off 39 balls from Siraj, 27 off 32 from Milind, 56 off 52 from left-arm spinner and debutant Nitin Sai Yadav and 63 off 42 balls from off-spinner Rohit Rayudu.
The duo added 154 for the sixth wicket to put Hyderabad on the backfoot.

Sarfaraz contributed 84 off 52 balls to the partnership before he was cleaned up by Rakshan. Suved Parkar added 65 off 82 balls to the stand.

Rakshan then had P Akash (14) caught by substitute Varun and skipper Siraj ran out Parkar after he had made 75 off 98 balls with 11 fours and a six.

Rakshan took his fourth wicket when he had Tushar Desphande caught behind by Rahul Radesh. Atharva Vinod Ankolekar remained unbeaten on 35.

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai (1st Innings): A Herwadkar c Nitish Reddy b Rayudu 27, Akash Anand c Himateja b Siraj 25, Musheer Khan lbw Yadav 11, Siddhesh Lad lbw Rayudu 104, Sarfaraz Khan b Rakshan 227, Himanshu Singh c Aman Rao b Rakshan 1, Suved Parkar run out (Siraj) 75, Akash P c sub (Varun) b Rakshan 14, Artharva Vinod Ankolekar (not out) 35, Tushar Deshpande c Radesh b Rakshan 4, Mohit Avasthi c Radesh b Himateja 5; Extras: (NB6, W2, B12, LB2) 22. Total: (All out in 123.2 overs) 560.

Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-66, 3-82, 4-331, 5-334, 6-488, 7-510, 8-523, 9-537.

Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 25-4-106-1, CV Milind 19-0-73-0, Rakshan Readdi 24-3-107-4, Rohit Rayudu 29-3-123-2, Nitin Sai Yadav 26-0-136-1, Himateja K 0.2-0-1-1.

Hyderabad (1st Innings): M Abhirath Reddy b Deshpande 4, P Aman Rao b Himanshu 7, Rahul Singh G (batting) 82, Himateja K (batting) 40; Extras: (NB3, W1, LB1) 5. Total: (For two wickets in 41 overs) 138.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-38.

Bowling: Tushar Deshpande 11-2-46-1, Himanshu Singh 11-4-18-1, Mohit Avasthi 9-1-44-0, Akash P 4-2-7-0, Musheer Khan 6-0-22-0.