Hyderabad needs a miracle now to take the first innings lead against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy Group C match as it finished third day at a disappointing 231 for seven at the KIIT Stadium here on Saturday.
Not the kind of batting performance on a pitch which demanded patience and stroke-selection.
Earlier, Kerala, resuming at its overnight score of 506 for nine, batted just for one over to get the option of using heavy roller before declaring its first innings at 517 for nine in 181 overs.
When Hyderabad started its first innings it saw its opener Tanmay Agarwal trapped lbw by pacer Sandeep Warrier with the second ball of the innings.
Then, Akshath Reddy and B. Anirudh batted with a fair degree of confidence against new ball bowlers putting on 59 runs for the second wicket before the latter failed to read a straighter one from off-spinner Jalaj Saxena to be lbw.
Soon captain S. Badrinath too departed cheaply, caught behind by Sanju Samson off Jalaj Saxena.
At lunch, Hyderabad was 75 for three but on resumption Sandeep Warrier was back in action trapping Akshath (37, 85b, 5x4) in front.
However, a sensible, 72-run stand for the fifth wicket between in-form Bavanaka Sandeep (53, 143b, 5x4) and wicketkeeper batsman Kolla Sumanth (22) gave some hope for Hyderabad.
But, left-arm spinner K. Monish dismissed Sumanth and the bowler later induced an irresponsible stroke from Sandeep who stepped out only to drive straight to deep mid-on and leave Hyderabad in a shambles at 175 for six.
Akash Bhandari hit a breezy 40 (51b, 7x4) in the final session.
The scores:
Kerala - 1st innings: V.A. Jagadeesh c Sumanth b Chama Milind 5, Bhavin Thakkar b Akash Bhandari 38, Rohan Prem st Sumanth b Mehdi Hasan 41, Sanju Samson b Ravi Kiran 15, Sachin Baby lbw b Mehdi Hasan 80, Jalaj Saxena c Ravi b Md. Siraj 79, Robert Fernandez lbw b Mehdi 12, Iqbal Abdullah (not out) 159, Kiran Kareparambil b Ravi Kiran 40, Basil Thambi run out 8, Sandeep Warrier (not out) 10; Extras (b-17, lb-8, nb-4, w-1): 30; Total (for nine wkts. decl. in 181 overs): 517.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-80, 3-107, 4-109, 5-256, 6-273, 7-312, 8-453, 9-486.
Hyderabad bowling: Ravi Kiran 24-9-58-2, Chama Milind 27-7-75-1, Md Siraj 31-10-88-1, Mehdi Hasan 54-18-134-3, Akash Bhandari 31-8-102-1, B. Sandeep 7-3-18-0, S. Badrinath 7-0-17-0.
Hyderabad – 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal lbw b Sandeep Warrier 0, P. Akshath Reddy lbw b Sandeep Warrier 37, B. Anirudh lbw b Jalaj Saxena 30, S. Badrinath c Sanju b Jalaj Saxena 3, Bavanaka Sandeep c Thakkar b K. Monish 53, Kolla Sumanth b K. Monish 22, Akash Bhandari lbw b Iqbal Abdulla 40, Mehdi Hasan batting 26, Chama Milind (batting) 4; Extras (b-8, lb-5, nb-3): 16; Total: (for seven wkts. in 87 overs): 231.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-59, 3-67, 4-82, 5-154, 6-175, 7-212.
Kerala bowling: Sandeep Warrier 13-1-41-2, Basil Thampi 9-2-32-0, Jalaj Saxena 26-11-48-2, K. Monish 20-5-53-2, Iqbal Abdulla 16-1-41-1, Rohan Prem 3-1-3-0.
