Kodimela Himateja struck an unbeaten century to put Hyderabad in the driver’s seat against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy at the DVR Ground in Mulapadu, Vijayawada, on Tuesday.
Himateja made an unbeaten 123 to help Hyderabad declare their innings closed at 306 for seven. Needing 398 for victory, the hosts were reeling at seven for two in four overs as left-arm spinner G Aniketh Reddy struck a double blow before stumps on the penultimate day.
Resuming at their overnight score of 78 for two, Hyderabad lost opener Tanmay Agarwal (49) with no addition to the total. The southpaw was bowled by off-spinner Tripurana Vijay.
Things went bad for the visitors as lost Pragnay Reddy (5), who was caught by Hemanth Reddy off pacer Kavuri Saiteja, and Rahul Radesh (6). Rahul too fell to the same combination as Hyderabad were reduced to 101 for five.
Himateja and Ruthik put Hyderabad on top
The team management, which had sent M Ruthik Yadav to bat at No.10 in the first innings despite his heroic show in his debut match against Tripura in the middle order, made amends and sent Ruthik to bat at No.7.
The move paid off as Himateja found an able foil in Ruthik and the duo stalled the Andhra attempts to run through the side. The left-handed duo took the game away from Andhra with a fighting 99-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The partnership took 198 balls but was worth its weight in gold. Himateja, who was the dominant partner, contributed 64 off 85 balls, while Ruthik made a solid 31 off 13 balls.
Five-star Tanay spins Hyderabad to a handy 91-run first innings lead against hosts Andhra
Ruthik, who was caught by Andhra skipper Ricky Bhui off Vijay, departed with the score reading 200 but by then he had helped put Hyderabad on top. His 31 contained three fours and a six.
Chama Milind (4) was trapped leg before by KV Sasikanth but Himateja found another partner in Tanay Thyagarajan and the duo added 93 for the unbroken seventh wicket. Himateja remained unconquered on 123 off 202 balls with 10 fours and five sixes and Tanay was not out on 53 off 64 balls with two fours and three sixes as skipper Mohd Siraj called his players back to the dressing room with Hyderabad on 306 for seven.
Mediumpacer Kavuri Saiteja bagged four for 40 and Vijay took two for 119.
Aniketh strikes twice to derail Andhra
Andhra’s hopes of putting up a fight were dashed by G Aniketh Reddy as the left-arm spinner struck twice in his first over. He first had Abhishek Reddy (1) caught by Mohd Siraj and five balls later had Shaik Rasheed caught by Tanmay to leave Andhra tottering at seven for two.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 275 in 86 overs & 306/7 in 92 overs (K Himateja 123no, M Ruthik Yadav 31, Tanay Thayagrajan 53no, K Saiteja 4/34, Tripurana Vijay 2/119) vs Andhra 184 in 63 overs & 7/2 in 4 overs (G Aniketh Reddy 2/3).
