The air was cold, there was grass on the pitch and Sandeep Warrier was fit to bowl.
Kerala captain Sachin Baby, thus, did not have to think twice before asking Hyderabad to bat first in the Group ‘C’ Ranji Trophy match at the Wayanad Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
His bowlers backed him too, making life difficult for Hyderabad, which reached 225 for seven at the end of an engrossing opening day.
But for an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 71, the highest in the innings, between wicket-keeper Ibrahim Khaleel (35 batting) and Ashish Reddy (34 batting), the visiting side would have been in considerable trouble.
Hyderabad, which came here after posting in excess of 500 in both its previous innings, must be hoping for Khaleel and Ashish to continue their fightback on Monday morning.
Ashish has been contributing heavily in the lower order, with scores of 95 and 66 in his last two knocks.
Top-order batsmen fail
The top-order batsmen failed Hyderabad for the first time this season though, as they were undone by a varied Kerala attack in helpful conditions.
Still, G.H. Vihari, the 21-year-old who is carrying the great Hyderabadi batting tradition forward, stood tall.
He made 76 (238 min, 160b, 12x4, 1x6). It was a fine innings, under pressure.
“Batting is not easy on this wicket, and early on, it was especially difficult,” he said.
“Kerala was bowling tidily too. All of them bowled well, but Sandeep was the toughest to handle.”
And it was Sandeep who provided the breakthrough, in the ninth over of the day, as he found Akshath Reddy’s edge, which was gleefully taken by wicketkeeper Nikhilesh Surendran.
The host’s catching though was far from perfect.
Medium-pacer P.U. Anthaf was the most successful Kerala bowler, with figures of three for 39.
Left-arm spinner K. Monish also impressed on his debut, picking up two wickets.
The scores :
Hyderabad — 1st innings : Tanmay Agarwal c Sachin b Anthaf 6, Akshath Reddy c Nikhilesh b Sandeep 8, G.H. Vihari c Nikhilesh b Anthaf 76, Pragyan Ojha lbw b Anthaf 1, D.B. Ravi Teja c Monish b Raiphi 24, B. Anirudh c Raiphi b Monish 20, Ahmed Quadri lbw b Monish 1, Ibrahim Khaleel (batting) 35, Ashish Reddy (batting) 34; Extras (b-12, lb-6, nb-1, w-1) 20; Total (for seven wickets in 90 overs): 225.
Fall of wickets : 1-9, 2-29, 3-39, 4-96, 5-141, 6-148, 7-154.
Kerala bowling : Sandeep Warrier17-5-51-1, Manu Krishnan 19-8-40, K. Monish 22-6-59-2, P.U. Anthaf 19-5-39-3, Raiphi Vincent Gomez 13-7-18-1.
Toss : Kerala.