VALSAD: In a match that went down to the wire, Hyderabad held its nerve to register a 44-run victory over rookie Chhattisgarh in a Ranji Trophy Group C match and take another stride towards qualifying for the knockouts.
After setting Chhattisgarh a target of 286 runs off 91 overs at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, Hyderabad bowled out the Ranji debutant in the ninth of the 15 mandatory overs. The pace triumvirate led by Ravi Kiran continued to strike at regular intervals before leggie Akash Bhandari wiped off the tail late in the evening. Hyderabad was also a beneficiary of some contentious umpiring decisions going its way.
Both Chhattisgarh’s openers stood their ground in disbelief after being ruled out early on. Abhimanyu Chauhan was adjudged leg before by umpire Umesh Dubey off Kiran in the fifth over. In his next over, Kiran made one jag back and appeared to have rapped Sahil Gupta’s pads. While the rest of the cordon went up for a leg before shout, B. Sandeep ran in from gully before lunging forward to catch the ball. Dubey upheld the appeal.
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Despite changing its batting line-up, Chhattisgarh failed to build on the partnerships. Amandeep Khare and Ashutosh Singh impressed with their cover drives and flicks. While Khare was caught in the slips by Benjamin Thomas off Kiran after lunch, captain Mohammad Kaif played left-armer C.V. Milind onto the stumps three balls after pulling the bowler for a six.
With Chhattisgarh 178 for five at tea, the game was still in the balance. However, soon after the interval, Kiran gave Hyderabad the prize scalp of Ashutosh, who fiddled with one that moved slightly away from him.
The last recognised batsman, Sumit Ruikar, did his best to keep Chhattisgarh on track to earn six points, but the left-hander was adjudged leg before by Saheba off Bhandari in the eighth mandatory over.
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The rest of the tail then fell apart to help Hyderabad complete a hard-earned victory.
The scores:
Hyderabad — 1st innings: 351.
Chhattisgarh — 1st innings: 188.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Benjamin Thomas c Kaif b Pankaj 19, Akshath Reddy b Pankaj 4, S. Badrinath c A. Singh b Tamrakar 11, B. Sandeep c M. Singh b Tamrakar 7, Tanmay Agarwal b Pankaj 0, Mehdi Hasan c Kaif b Tamrakar 4, Habeeb Ahmed c Chauhan b Ruikar 17, Akash Bhandari c A. Singh b Pankaj 35, C.V. Milind c M. Singh b Tamrakar 0, Mohammad Siraj c A. Singh b Pankaj 12, Ravi Kiran (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-5): 13; Total (in 48.2 overs): 122.
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-34, 3-34, 4-34, 5-39, 6-67, 7-68, 8-68, 9-104.
Chhattisgarh bowling: Pankaj Rao 16.2-6-44-5, Abhyuday Kant Singh 11-4-18-0, Abhishek Tamrakar 10-4-19-2, Sumit Ruikar 10-2-33-1, Amandeep Khare 1-1-0-0.
Chhattisgarh — 2nd innings: Sahil Gupta c Sandeep b Kiran 7, Abhimanyu Chauhan lbw b Kiran 0, Manoj Singh b Siraj 19, Amandeep Khare c Benjamin b Kiran 44, Ashutosh Singh c Ahmed b Kiran 67, Mohammad Kaif b Milind 22, Avnish Singh Dhaliwal lbw b Bhandari 31, Sumit Ruikar lbw b Bhandari 33, Abhyuday Kant Singh (not out) 12, Pankaj Rao c Milind b Bhandari 0, Abhishek Tamrakar b Siraj 0; Extras (b-3, w-3): 6; Total (in 84.1 overs): 241.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-12, 3-56, 4-99, 5-142, 6-193, 7-205, 8-241, 9-241.
Hyderabad bowling: Ravi Kiran 20-4-60-4, C.V. Milind 19-2-64-1, Mehdi Hasan 15-3-34-0, Akash Bhandari 13-4-25-3, Mohammad Siraj 17.1-3-55-2.
Man-of-the-match: Pankaj Rao.
Hyderabad won by 44 runs.