Punjab weathered the initial setbacks to take the honours on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Hyderabad at the Gymkhana ground in Secunderabad on Monday.
At stumps on the first day, Punjab went to bed in a much happier frame of mind as they reached 289 for six with wicketkeeper Salil Arora batting on 57 off 143 balls with two fours and giving him company was Emanjot Singh Chahal on 5 off 11 balls with a boundary.
Earlier in the day, Punjab skipper Uday Saharan won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. However, C Rakshann Readdi, who replaced skipper Mohd Siraj in the playing XI, struck the first blow for the hosts. He had opener Vihaan Malhotra caught by M Ruthik Yadav for 12 off 20 balls with two fours.
Prabhsimran strokes a brilliant 81
But Haroon Singh and Prabhsimran Singh denied Hyderabad any further success. The duo added 48 off 102 for the second wicket with Prabhsimran being the aggressive of the duo. He contributed 32 off 64 balls while Haroon made 6 off 38. Left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan, who has been in tremendous form thus far, had Haroon (17; 49 balls) caught behind by wicketkeeper Pragnay Reddy.
Prabhsimran and skipper Uday then added a quickfire 43 off 58 balls for the third wicket to help their team cross the 100-run mark.Prabhsimran continued with his attacking vein as he contributed 22 off 33 balls and Uday made 16 off 29 balls with two fours. Uday was caught by substitute G Rahul Singh off left-arm spinner G Aniketh Reddy.
Prabhsimran and Jashanpreet Singh defied the Hyderabad spinners as they added 34 before Rakshann ready struck soon after the lunch break. The pacer castled Prabhsimran to cut short a blossoming innings. Prabhsimran made a 126-ball 81 with nine fours and a six.
Jashanpreet, Salil and Ramandeep prop up the innings
But Hyderabad were unable to force the issue further as Jashanpreet and wicketkeeper Salil Arora stonewalled all their attempts for a further breakthrough. They added 43 off 82 balls to stabilize the innings with Jashanpreet doing the bulk of the scoring. He contributed 33off 43 balls while Salil made 10 off 39 balls. To Punjab’s misfortune, Jashanpreet’s innings was cut short via a run out by Rahul Radesh. Jashanpreet made 45 off 84 balls with five fours.
The dismissal paved the way for Punjab’s most fruitful partnership of the day. Salil and Ramandeep Singh forged a brilliant fightback as they turned the Hyderabad attack on its head. The duo added 93 off 167 balls for the sixth wicket to take Punjab to a position of strength.
Ramandeep, who was the aggressive of the duo, made a 79-ball 52 with six fours before Hyderabad skipper CV Milind struck a lethal blow. Salil contributed 38 off 88 balls to the partnership.
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By close of play, Punjab reached 289 for six in 90 overs and would be happy with the efforts of their batters.
The hosts had made two changes to the team which played the last two games. Rakshann Readdi had come in place of regular skipper Mohd Siraj, who is away on India duty, and G Rahul Singh was dropped in favour of all-rounder A Varun Goud.
The hosts bowling did not look as menacing as it was in the previous two games with spinners Tanay and Aniketh being tackled well by the Punjab batters. Rakshann put up a good show by getting two important wickets.
Brief scores: Punjab 289 for six in 90 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 81, Jashanpreet Singh 45, Salil Arora 57 batting, Ramandeep Singh 52; C Rakshann Readdi 2/53) vs Hyderabad.
