Hyderabad are on the verge of victory in their Ranji Trophy season opener against Tripura as three wickets separate them from full points from the game as the visitors were reeling at 106 for seven at stumps on the second day at the Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad on Monday. Tripura off-spinner Sandip Sarkar’s lion-hearted bowling effort has sadly been undone by the batters. Sandip took eight of the 10 Hyderabad wickets to fall.
Both debutants for Hyderabad have played a significant role in the team’s stupendous show. On the first day, it was left-arm spinner G Aniketh Reddy who ran through the Tripura innings.
Aniketh and Tanay spin Tripura out for a lowly 134; Hyderabad reach 121 for 4 at stumps
Ruthvik bails out Hyderabad with 61 on debut
On Monday, it was another debutant M Ruthvik Yadav who displayed nerves of steel to bail out his side when they looked in some trouble.
Resuming at their overnight score of 121 for four, Hyderabad lost Tanmay Agarwal (54; 122 balls, 2×4) for the addition of six to his total. At 34 for five, it could have been anyone’s game but Ruthvik, who was on 11 the previous day, kept the rival attack at bay. Along with Rahul Radesh, Ruthvik slowly took Hyderabad to a position of strength. The duo added 78 for the sixth wicket off 214 balls with Ruthvik scoring 43 and Rahul getting 34. Ruthvik’s innings came to an end when off-spinner Sandip Sarkar bowled him for 61 (150 balls, 4×5).
Rahul (40; 119 balls, 4×1) fell soon but Chama Milind and Aniketh Reddy forged a 52-run partnership for the eighth wicket to give Hyderabad the upper hand. Milind fell after making 40 (55 balls, 4×5, 6×2) and Aniketh made 20. Hyderabad were bowled out for 294 but they had a handy 160-run lead on a wicket which was not easy to bat on.
Sandip does the star turn for Tripura
Sandip Sarkar was the star for Tripura as the spinner grabbed eight wickets for 96 runs but his effort has been in vain as the batters did not take motivation from his lion-hearted show.
Unlike in the first innings, Tripura had a poor start and that only got worse as the innings progressed. Ruthvik struck the first blow by removing Bikramkumar Das (11) and then skipper Mohd Siraj got rid of Hrituraj Roy (5). The experienced Hanuma Vihari failed for the second time in the match. He was sent back by Tanay Thyagarajan after making 1. Tanay struck twice more in quick succession to leave Tripura reeling at 43 for five. Siraj made it 45 for six and Abhirath Reddy scalped Sridam Paul (25).
Wicketkeeper Sentu Sarkar and Parvez Sultan defied the Hyderabad bowlers with a solid 25-run unbroken partnership for the eighth wicket. Sarkar was batting on 27 and Sultan was on 11. Tripura still need 55 runs to make Hyderabad bat again with just three wickets in hand.
Tanay finished with three for 42, while Siraj bagged two for 19.
Brief scores: Tripura 134 in 44 overs & 103/7 in 35 overs (Sridam Paul 25, Sentu Sarkar 27 batting; Tanay Thyagarajan 3/42, Mohd Siraj 2/19) vs Hyderabad 294 in 103.2 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 54, M Ruthvik Yadav 61, Rahul Radhesh 40, CV Milind 40, G Aniketh Reddy 20; Sandip Sarkar 8/96).
