Hyderabad banked on its bowlers’ disciplined performance to bundle out Himachal Pradesh for its lowest ever total, 36, in the Ranji Trophy before Rishi Dhawan’s six wickets added thrill to the Group C contest at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
HP, resuming from eight for two in the first innings, was all out in 25 overs after a delayed start of one-hour-and-15 minutes due to wet patches on the outfield.
However, by the end of the second day’s play, HP had regained some lost ground, thanks to its captain and pace ace Dhawan’s exceptional showing, to restrict Hyderabad to 99 for seven.
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Hyderabad bowlers’ collective effort maintained the stranglehold on HP. Armed with his accuracy, the nippy Ravi Kiran bowled Nikhil Gangta through the gate in the seventh over of the morning.
Bowling round the wicket, left-arm pacer C.V. Milind struck in the next over making Paras Dogra offer a thick edge to second slip. Ravi Kiran trapped Robin Bist in front to put HP in deep trouble at 18 for five.
The lack of application was apparent as HP took lunch at 32 for six when Rishi Dhawan pulled Mohammad Siraj straight to Mehdi Hasan at midwicket.
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Leg-spinner Akash Bhandari got enough turn and bounce to dismiss Sumeet Verma and Shresth Nirmohi in his first over and claimed Pankaj Jaswal and Gurvinder Singh in his third.
HP went below its previous lowest aggregate of 64, scored against Services at Una in 1986-87 as none of its batsmen reached double figures.
Hyderabad’s joy was short-lived though. After castling Benjamin in the third over, Dhawan bowled a better line and length and generated swing in his next two spells. He had Akshath Reddy caught at gully to break a 38-run second wicket partnership and had B. Sandeep caught behind in the following over.
Dhawan returned for his devastating third spell, scalping three Hyderabad batsmen for 19 runs. In consecutive deliveries, K. Sumanth was caught at slip and S. Badrinath was bowled while leaving the ball. Bhandari was caught behind to give Dhawan his first fiver of the season.
Anirudh bent his back and held one end intact with an unbeaten 44, studded with six boundaries.
“Our pacers did a good job. We need 30-40 more runs to be in a good position,” said Hyderabad coach Bharat Arun.
The scores:
Himachal Pradesh — 1st innings: Ankush Bains b Ravi Kiran 0, Prashant Chopra b Milind 4, Nikhil Gangta b Ravi Kiran 8, Paras Dogra c Benjamin b Milind 6, Robin Bist lbw b Ravi Kiran 0, Rishi Dhawan c Hasan b Siraj 9, Sumeet Verma c Benjamin b Bhandari 5, Mayank Dagar (not out) 4, Shresth Nirmohi c Benjamin b Bhandari 0, Pankaj Jaswal b Bhandari 0, Gurvinder Singh lbw b Bhandari 0; Total (in 25 overs): 36.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-8, 3-16, 4-18, 5-18, 6-30, 7-32, 8-32, 9-36.
Hyderabad bowling: Ravi Kiran 9-5-12-3, C.V. Milind 8-2-15-2, Mohd. Siraj 5-1-9-1, Akash Bhandari 3-3-0-4.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: Akshath Reddy c Sumeet b Dhawan 23, Benjamin Thomas b Dhawan 4, B. Anirudh (batting) 44, B. Sandeep c Bains b Dhawan 0, K. Sumanth c Chopra b Dhawan 18, S. Badrinath b Dhawan 0, Akash Bhandari c Bains b Dhawan 4, Mehdi Hasan lbw b Gurvinder 4, C.V. Milind (batting) 0; Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (for seven wkts. in 41 overs): 99.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-43, 3-47, 4-73, 5-73, 6-89, 7-94.
Himachal Pradesh bowling: Rishi Dhawan 15-4-35-6, Shresth Nirmohi 7-1-12-0, Mayank Dagar 8-1-17-0, Pankaj Jaswal 5-1-26-0, Gurvinder Singh 6-2-8-1.