Published: October 22, 2026 at 9:37 pm
Pranav Varma stole the thunder on the final day’s play as he helped Hyderabad take a slender two-run first innings lead and then scalped five wickets to inject drama against Uttarakhand in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 492 for seven with Pranav batting on 31, Hyderabad suffered an immediate setback with Rakshit Rohi having Nishanth S (3) caught by wicketkeeper Aditya Naithani without any addition to the score.
Aaron’s masterclass 197 helps Hyd reach within striking distance of Uttarakhand total
Pranav then framed the bowling and with No.10 Mohammed Malik and No.11 Dinesh Rathod for company earned the all-important first innings.
Pranav added a vital 14-runs with Malik (0) and then seven runs for the last wicket with Rathod (0) before falling to Harsh Rana after making a brilliant 51 under pressure. His knock came off 120 balls with five fours. Hyderabad ended with 513, in reply to Uttarakhand’s 511.
With their tails up, Hyderabad bowlers attacked Uttarakhand and bowled them out for 197.
Pranav bags five wickets
Mediumpacer Nishanth S had Lincoln Kumar (0) caught by Wafi Kachchhi with the third ball of the innings with zero on the board. Aditya Naithani and Divya Rawat then added 46 for the second wicket before Nishanth struck again. He had Aditya (23) caught by substitute D Goud.
Divyam and skipper Harsha Rana added 55 for the third wicket before Wafi struck twice off consecutive balls. He first had Divyam caught by Aaron George for 45 (59 balls; 8×4) and then caught and bowled Abhyuday Bhatnagar (0) to reduce Uttarakhand to 101 for four.
Pranav then initiated his magical spell as he had Rana caught by Dinesh Rathod (28) to lave Uttarkhand at 101 for five.
From there on, Uttarakhand faltered and but for Arush Melkani’s fighting 68, the visitors would have ended up with much less on the board.
Arush fell to P Raghava for 68 off 102 balls with five fours and four sixes as Uttarakhand made 197 in 52.5 overs.
Pranav finished with five for 37 and Nishanth took two for 33 and Wafi bagged two for 57
Requiring 196 for victory, Hyderabad skipper P Aman Rao promoted himself to the opening slot with Aaron George. Though Aaron (11) fell early, Aman and A Avanish Rao (15) went after the target. They added 46
for the second wicket. R Sai Sharan was run out for 10 and then Aman fell after making 55 off 44 balls with four boundaries and a six.
Hyderabad ended up with 112 for four in 15 overs but they were the happier lot as they bagged three points from the game.
Brief scores: Uttarakhand 511 in 142 overs & 197 in 52.5 overs (Aditya Naithani 23, Divyam Rawat 45, Harsh Rana 28, Arush Melkani 68, Pranav Varma 5/37, S Nishanth 2/33, Wafi Kachchhi 2/57) drew with Hyderabad 513 in 138.2 overs (Pranav Varma 51, Rakshit Rohi 5/97, Harsh Rana 3/91) & 112/4 in 15 overs (Aman Rao 55).
Gongadi Trisha to lead Hyderabad U-23 team
Gongadi Trisha has been named as skipper of the Hyderabad Women’s Under-23 team for the BCCI T20 Trophy to be held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, from November 14.
G Trisha
The Hyderabad Cricket Association’s women’s selection committee named the following players for the first three matches of the tournament. Kunchala Niteesha has been named as vice-captain of the team.
The squad: 1. Gongadi Trisha (captain), 2. Kunchala Niteesha (vice-captain), 3. Prathiksha Venkatesh, 4. K Nidhi (WK), 5. Drithi Kesari, 6. Sandhya Gora, 7. Kranthi Reddy Nalla, 8. Eddla Srujana, 9. Kavya Sree, 10. Palthya Parvathi, 11. Eddla Darshini (WK), 12. Katta Tejaswani, 13. P Siri Chendhanaa, 14. Ediga Meha Laxmi, 15. Nandhigama Akshaya. Stand-by: 1. Katta Srivalli, 2. K Prathika Reddy, 3. Sri Bilvika Reddy, P Hansika Rao, 5. K Sannidhi.
