Hyderabad gets the monkey off its back

The hosts register their first victory of the season, beating Assam by 72 runs

December 16, 2015 02:39 am | Updated March 24, 2016 10:04 am IST - HYDERABAD:

HYDERABAD,15/12/2014: Tanmay Agarwal of Hyderabad who topscored against Assam in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament in Hyderabad on Tuesday..--PHOTO: KVS Giri

HYDERABAD,15/12/2014: Tanmay Agarwal of Hyderabad who topscored against Assam in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament in Hyderabad on Tuesday..--PHOTO: KVS Giri

The smiles are back on the faces of the Hyderabad players. It is not that they have won a major event; by defeating Assam by 72 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy cricket tournament’s Group-A match at the Gymkhana Ground on Tuesday, they recorded their first victory of a season that saw them take the lead just the once in eight Ranji Trophy games.

For team which is under fire after hitting a low this season, this was a vastly improved display after three consecutive defeats in this championship.

Batting first, Hyderabad posted 271 for eight, thanks primarily to fine batting performances from captain G.H. Vihari (51) and southpaw Tanmay Agarwal (83). The two put on a 107-run stand for the third wicket, dashing Assam’s hopes of restricting the hosts to a modest total after striking some early blows.

Both Agarwal and Vihari showed discipline in batting; they treated the bowling on merit.

The former was the more aggressive and, much to the delight of the Hyderabad camp, even reached his half-century with a fine pull off Jogeshwar Bhomiz over the square-leg fence.

At the other end, Vihari looked determined to post a big score but perished when a top-edge off his attempted sweep went straight to the fielder at short third-man.

Even Agarwal, who had looked good for a century, failed to resist the temptation to go for the lofted shot on on-side, only to be caught in the deep.

Then, a breezy knock by wicketkeeper-batsman Kolla Sumanth (34) in the slog overs ensured that Hyderabad put up a challenging total.

When the chase began, much was expected from Assam, especially given the way it had pushed Punjab in a high-scoring match at the same venue on Monday.

But, it never really recovered from the early blows which included the cheap dismissal of Swarupam Purkayastha, a centurion in the previous game, in the third over of the innings.

Opener Pallav Kumar Das (54) batted well but Hyderabad’s bowlers struck at regular intervals to ensure that the game was always under its control.

Left-arm medium-pacer C.V. Milind and Ravi Kiran picked three wickets apiece while off-spinner Vishal Sharma chipped in with two ensuring that Assam was never in the hunt.

In another match, Yuvraj Singh rediscovered his batting touch to score a breezy, unbeaten 78 (57 balls, 10x4, 2x6) and help Punjab record a six-wicket win over Rajasthan after opener Jiwanjot Singh (66) and Mandeep Singh (60) set the tempo.

It was a pity that Rajasthan opener Manender Singh’s fine century (118, 129 balls, 6x4, 3x6) went in vain at RRC Ground.

Mumbai came up with another professional all-round performance to trounce Services by six wickets in another match, clearly keeping an eye on the run-rate which might be crucial later on.

Wednesday is a rest day.

The scores: Hyderabad 271 for eight in 50 overs (Danny Derek Prince 32, G.H. Vihari 51, Tanmay Agarwal 83, Kolla Sumanth 34, Arup Das three for 45, Jogeshwar Bhomiz three for 58) bt Assam 199 in 50 overs (Pallav Kumar Das 54, Amit Sinha 34, Syed Mohammed 30, Ravi Kiran three for 30, C.V. Milind three for 44).

Services 151 in 42.1 overs (Nakul Verma 50, Rajat Paliwal 41, Shardul Thakur four for 19) lost to Mumbai 156 for four in 25.2 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 46, Shreyas Iyer 35).

Rajasthan 270 for seven in 50 overs (P.I. Sharma 36, Manender Singh 118, P.R. Yadav 43, Ashok Menaria 32, Barinder Singh Sran four for 60) lost to Punjab 273 for four in 44.4 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 66, Pargat Singh 25, Mandeep Singh 60, Yuvraj Singh 78 not out).

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