Hyderabad needed the services of India players Tilak Varma and Mohammed Siraj to halt their pathetic show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After suffering four consecutive losses in the tournament, there was something to cheer for Hyderabad as Tilak led from the front to help his side carve out a 136-run victory over Chandigarh at the Sanosara Cricket Ground A in Rajkot on Saturday.
Tilak scored a 118-ball 109 with six fours and three sixes to take Hyderabad to 286 for nine. Chandigarh were never in the frame as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 150. Tilak was named Player of the Match.
Put into bat, Hyderabad lost openers Aman Rao (12) and Tanmay Agarwal (16) with 39 on the board. It looked as if Hyderabad were in for another hard time with the bat. However, Tilak and Abhirath Reddy, who had struck a century in the previous game, steadied the innings and slowly brought their side back into contention. The duo added 114 off 116 balls for the third wicket to put Hyderabad on a solid wicket. Abhirath was the more adventurous of the duo as he contributed a 64-ball 71 (5×4, 2×6) to the partnership while Tilak, who played an anchor’s role this day, scored 43 off 52 balls.
But the going was too good to last, and Chandigarh got the much-needed breakthrough when Vishu had Abhirath caught by Harjit Singh. Tilak and Varun Goud (13) added 32 to the total before Varun fell to Vishu. Thereafter, Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals. Tilak and K Nitesh Reddy (13) added 42 for the sixth wicket before Tilak departed after making a composed century.
Mohd Siraj struck a 11-ball 16 with three fours to prop up the score.
Milind, Siraj do the early damage for Hyderabad
Chandigarh never got going as they lost a couple of early wickets to deny them the chance of pursuing the target. Left-arm seamer CV Milind got rid of Arslan Khan (1) and Tushar Joshi (7) with just 19 on the board. Siraj then trapped Taranpreeet Singh (7) leg before to make things worse for their rivals.
Aniketh Reddy had skipper Manan Vohra (24) caught by Abhirath Reddy and the writing was on the wall. Sanmay Saini (46) and Vishu (27 not out) delayed the inevitable but not for too long. Chandigarh fell for 150. Rakshann Readdi took three for 34, while Milind bagged two for27 and Nitesh Reddy took two for 27.
Siraj’s spell of one for 19 in eight overs with three maidens was outstanding and pegged Chandigarh back.
Hyderabad got their first points of the tournament, while Chandigarh are languishing at the bottom of Group B with no points.
SCOREBOARD
Hyderabad: Aman Rao b Dhanda 13, Tanmay Agarwal c Vohra b Kapoor 16, Tilak Varma c Joshi b J Singh 109, Abhirath Reddy c H Singh b Kashyap 71, A Varun Goud c Joshi b Kashyap 13, Pragnay Reddy c Saini b Dhanda 9, Nitesh Reddy lbw J Singh 13, CV Milind c H Singh b J Singh 16, Aniketh Reddy (not out) 8, Rakshann Readdi (not out) 5; Extras: (LB2, W4) 6. Total: (For 9 wickets in 50 overs) 286.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-39, 3-153, 4-185, 5-207, 6-249, 7-250, 8-272, 9-276.
Bowling: Jagjit Singh 10-2-43-3, Rohit Dhanda 10-0-64-2, Hartejassvi Kapoor 8-0-47-2, Vishnu Kashyap 10-0-58-2, Hardik Chowdhary 4-0-34-0, Taranpreet Singh 8-0-38-0.
Chandigarh: Arslan Khan c Pragnay b Milind 1, Manan Vohra c Abhirath b Aniketh 24, Tushar Joshi c Pragnay b Milind 7, Taranpreet Singh lbw Siraj 7, Harjit Singh c Milind b Nitesh 18, Sanyam Saini c Goud b Nitesh 46, Hardik Chowdhary lbw Readdi 8, Vishnu Kashyap (not out) 27, Jagjit Singh c Pragnay b Readdi 0, Hartejassvi Kapoor b Goud 4; Extras: (LB2, W6) 8. Total: (All out in 37.4 overs) 150.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-19, 3-26, 4-50, 5-95, 6-116, 7-122, 8-122, 9-122.
Bowling: Mohd Siraj 8-3-19-1, CV Milind 6-2-20-2, Aniketh Reddy 7.1-0-24-1, Rakshann Readdi 7-1-34-3, Tilak Varma 2-0-24-0, Nitesh Reddy 6.5-0-27-2, A Varun Goud 0.4-0-0-1.
