Aaron George’s marathon innings, which fell short of a double century, helped Hyderabad reach within striking distance of Uttarakhand’s massive 511 first innings total in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
At close of stumps on the penultimate day, Hyderabad were 492 for seven with Pranav Varma batting on 31 and giving him company was Nishanth S on 3. Hyderabad still need 20 runs to bag the vital first innings lead.
Resuming at their overnight score of 135 for one with Aaron batting on 51 and skipper Aman Rao on 60, Hyderabad lost Aman Rao with the addition of one run to the total. Aman was caught by Divyam Rawat off Rakshit Rohi without any addition to his score.
However, Aaron found an able partner in wicketkeeper Aravelly Avanish Rao and the duo took the fight to the enemy camp. They added 135 off 145 balls for the third wicket with Avanish being the aggressive partner. Aaron contributed 61 off 75 balls to the partnership. Aravelly was caught by Arush Melkani off Rohi for 74 off 70 balls with six fours and five sixes.
Aaron single-handedly steers Hyderabad
Aaron then formed another important partnership with Wafi Kachchhi for the fourth wicket. They added 87 off 138 balls with both players contributing 43 each before Wafi was caught by wicketkeeper Aditya Naithini off Nishu Patel for 43 off 70 balls with four boundaries.
Aaron continued to milk the Uttarakhand bowling and with R Sai Sharan for company took the score to 427 before Harsh Rana struck as he had Sai Sharan (25) stumped by Naithani.
Adi Khan struck the biggest blow as he had Aaron caught by Devansh Sharma three short of his double century. Aaron’s 197 came off 287 balls with 25 hits to the fence.
Hyderabad make a spirited reply after Rana (183) and Pant (96) help Uttarakhand post 511
With two wickets fall at 427, Hyderabad looked a bit in trouble, but Murugan Abhishek and Pranav Varma added an invaluable 53 to the total before Muragan was caught by Naithini off Rohi for 31 (60 balls; 4×4).
Pranav and Nishanth S (3 batting) took Hyderabad to 492 before close of play. Pranav was batting on 31 off 74 balls with three fours.
Rakshit Rohi took three for 92 and Harsh Rana bagged two for 88.
Brief scores: Uttarakhand 511 vs Hyderabad 492 for seven in 126 overs (Aaron George 197, Aman Rao 60, Aravelly Avanish Rao 74, Wafi Kachchhi 43, R Sai Sharan 25, Murugan Abhishek 31, Pranav Varma 31 batting; Rakshit Rohi 3/92, Harsh Rana 2/88).
Veer takes seven as UP crush Andhra by an innings
Uttar Pradesh crushed Andhra by an innings and 63 runs at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow with a day to spare.
After taking a handy 199-run first innings lead, Uttar Pradesh chocked Andhra, who were bowled out for 136. Left-arm spinner Prashant veer did the most damage with a seven for 23 haul.
Opener Haneesh Reddy led the fightback with a splendid half-century but after his fall, Andhra caved in meekly. Haneesh and TV Sai Sravan (1) put on 29 for the first wicket before Sravan was trapped leg before by Aquib Khan. Haneesh and Munnagi Abhinav (2) then took the score to 50 before the latter was trapped leg before by Veer.
Haneesh, who was going great guns, became Veer’s second wicket after being caught by Vipraj Nigam. His 54 came off just 33 balls with eight fours and three sixes.
After that wickets fell at regular intervals as Veer and leggie Nigam did not give the batters any chance of making a comeback. From 63 for three, Andhra were bowled out for 135.
Brief scores: Andhra 181 & 136 in 32.5 overs (Haneesh Reddy 54, Garimella Teja 20; Prashant Veer 7/23; Vipraj Nigam 2/30).
