A splendid spell of fast bowling by the lanky Ravi Kiran who cleaned up the top-order with a three-wicket burst in the first half-an-hour was the decisive factor as Hyderabad notched up an emphatic, 10-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy Group B match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.
Ravi Kiran dismissed captain Prashant Chopra, wicketkeeper-batsman Ankush Bains and Nikhil Gangta — all beaten by sheer pace and late movement. It was a spell from which Himachal never really recovered.
At the other end, pacer Mohammad Mudassir came up with a beauty to baffle opener Priyanshu Khanduri to leave Himachal in dire straits at 42 for four in 14.3 overs.
No-ball issue
Pacer Ravi Teja also bowled well but was unlucky. First, his joy of earning an lbw verdict against Khanduri turned sour when the third umpire ruled it a no-ball in the ninth over. Later, he had the misfortune of seeing Rishi Dhawan bowled all ends up of another no-ball at 49 for four!
The stage was set for the left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan and he didn’t disappoint — bowling another impressive spell on a pitch which was not a turner even on the final day to pick up three-wickets.
Chasing a modest target, openers Tanmay Agarwal and captain P. Akshath Reddy stayed unbeaten to reach the target to pick the bonus point too.
Hyderabad has 12 points from four games, while Himachal two from three matches.
The scores:
Himachal Pradesh — 1st innings: 351.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: 352.
Himachal Pradesh — 2nd innings: Priyanshu Khanduri b Mudassir 15, Prashant Chopra b Ravi Kiran 5, Ankush Bains b Ravi Kiran 0, Nikhil Gangta b Ravi Kiran 2, Sumeet Verma c Ravi Teja b Thyagarajan 19, Rishi Dhawan lbw b Ravi Kiran 12, Ekant Sen c Mehdi b Thyagarajan 0, Mayank Dagar c Sandeep b Ravi Teja 12, Pankaj Jaiswal c Tanmay b Thyagarajan 8, Gurvinder Singh (not out) 9, Arpit Guleria c Thyagarajan b Mehdi 1; Extras (lb-6, nb-8): 14; Total (in 45.2 overs) 97.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-15, 4-42, 5-66, 6-66, 7-68, 8-87, 9-87.
Hyderabad bowling: Kiran 14-2-34-4, Mudassir 8-3-14-1, Teja 9-0-34-1, Tanay 11-4-9-3, Mehdi 3.2-3-0-1.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal (not out) 48, P. Akshath Reddy (not out) 44; Extras (b-5): 5; Total (for no loss in 28.2 overs): 97.
Himachal Pradesh bowling: Guleria 7-3-11-0, Jaiswal 3-0-23-0, Chopra 8.2-0-31-0, Dagar 10-4-27-0.
