After taking a narrow four-run lead, Hyderabad were upbeat against Mumbai on the morning of the penultimate day’s play in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy match at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivali, Mumbai.
But by the evening, Hyderabad were crestfallen as they stared at defeat. It was a pathetic batting display that led them to such a great downfall within a matter of hours. Fifteen wickets fell on the penultimate day with the hosts now enjoying an advantage on the final day’s play.
Hyderabad, who had made 334 in their first innings, began well as openers P Raghava and Wafi Kachchhi added 27 for the first wicket before the former was dismissed by skipper Suryansh Shedge for seven.
Despite the setback, Wafi and No.3 bat Aravelly Avanish ensured that there were no further hiccups. The duo added 56 off 73 balls with Avanish doing the bulk of scoring, 37 off 45 balls with five fours, before falling to Umar Khan.
Wafi was joined by skipper Mayank Gupta and they took the score to 102 before Mayank (11) fell. And from thereon, it was a one-way traffic as the Hyderabad batting fell apart.
There was a virtual parade as Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals. Dheeraj Goud was trapped leg before by Atharve Bhosale for a duck and G Ritish Reddy was caught by Manan Bhatt off Bhosale for 10.
Wafi, who had quietly gone on to make 57 off 130 balls with seven fours, fell to Bhosale and Hyderabad were reduced to 145 for six.
To make matters worse, Nitin Sai Yadav (6) become Bhosale’s fourth wicket and MA Adnan (5) was sent back by Manan Bhatt. A run later Hyderabad lost their ninth wicket in the form of Nishanth S (1) who was Bhosale’s fifth wicket.
Pranav Varma, who was holding one end up, finally fell in the form of the last wicket for 31 off 72 balls. He struck three fours and a six as Hyderabad folded up for 166.
Mumbai at stumps were three without loss and need 168 more for victory.
Nitin Sai takes 4/92 to restrict Mumbai
Earlier, Mumbai resumed at 259 for five but lost skipper Shedge soon. He was caught and bowled by Nitin Sai Yadav for 113 which came off 204 balls and contained 14 boundaries.
Prateek Yadav made 31 and Ziad Patankar scored 25 but Mumbai fell short of taking the first innings lead as Nitin Sai Yadav bagged four of the five wickets to fall on the day. He finished with figures of four for 92 as Mumbai were restricted to 330.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 334 & 166 in 60.5 overs (Wafi Kachchhi 57, Aravelly Avanish 37, Pranav Varma 31; Atharva Bhosale 5/66, Manan Bhatt 2/2) vs Mumbai 330 in 97.2 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 120, Suryansh Shedge 113, Prateek Yadav 31, Zaid Patankar 25; Nitin Sai Yadav 4/92, Dinesh Rathod 3/77) and 3/0 in 4 overs.
