Riyan Parag’s brilliant spell (48-4) allowed Hyderabad to hit a quick 78 and keep chasing their allies without escaping by a wide margin.
In the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B fixture at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad secured a first-innings lead of just three runs against Assam on Wednesday’s second day.
The home side, who restarted 3-78 on aggregate for the day, saw some rough smacks, mostly from southpaw Rohit Rayudu (60, 169b, 6×4) and useful contributions from newcomer Bhudi Rahul (35, 71b, 6×4). I got 208 points thanks to Bagasse Varma (46, 60b, 4×4, 3×6). This happened after the Assam bowlers put on a great show in the morning session.
Full of confidence his Bhagath managed the shots admirably and struck some powerful shots to score the first goal in his 37 runs crucial in the final wicket against Kartikeya Kak in his stand.
Riyan Parag’s beautiful spell (48 to 4) did not allow Hyderabad to escape by a large margin. Sticking to the basics with batting line and depth, he let the batter hit repeatedly.
In the second essay, Assam suffered an early setback, losing opener Rahul Hazarika (5) and captain Kunal Saikia (8) cheaply by ten overs.
Then enterprising he was Riyan Parag (78, 28b, 8×4, 6×6) one man show. He batted as if the team were chasing his T-20 target, handling both pacers and spinners with a few clean shots.
The Hyderabad bowler was clueless as he stood in the kink during his 101-run stand for the third wicket with Rishab Das (34, 47b, 6×4). Rohit Rayudu needed a nice catch at depth, running from long on to deep mid-wicket to take a difficult chance just inches off the ground before pacesetter Ravi Teja sent Parag back.
Assam soon lost another three of his wickets and this gave life to Hyderabad’s camp as off-spinner Bhagath Varma came into play with his two chips.
Assam ended the day clear of his 179 points with his 4 wickets in hand and the match itself could end tomorrow.
Scores
Assam – 1st innings 205
Hyderabad – 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Hazarika b Akash 21, K. Rohit Rayudu st Kunal b Parag 60, M. Samhith Reddy c Akash b Mukhtar 11, Mickil Jaiswal b Mukhtar 4, Buddhi Rahul c Kunal b Sunil 35, Bhavesh Seth c Hazarika b Parag 4, T. Ravi Teja lbw b Parag 0, Tanay Thyagarajan c Gokul b Parag 5, Bhagath Varma c Akash b Sarmah 46, Ajay Dev Goud c Sunil b Mukhtar 8, Kartikeya Kak not out 4. Extras: (nb-6, b-4) 10
Total: (all out in 66.5 overs) 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-46, 3-50, 4-117, 5-133, 6-133, 7-139, 8-162, 9-171, 10-208.
Assam bowling: Mukhtar 22-2-62-3, Sunil 13-4-39-1, Parag 20-6-48-4, Akash 3-0-16-1, Sarupam 5-0-15-0, Sarmah 3.5-0-24-1.
Assam – 2nd innings: Kunal Saikia c Mickil b Kak 8, Rahul Hazarika c Bhavesh b Ravi Teja 5, Rishav Das c Bhavesh b Bhagath 34, Riyan Parag c Rohit b Ravi Teja 78, Sibsankar Roy c Bhavesh b Tanay 15, Gokul Sharma c Bhavesh b Bhagath 9, Sarupam Purkayastha batting 22, Akash Sengupta batting 4.
Extras: (nb-2, 2-4, lb-1) 7
Total: (for six wickets in 39 overs) 182
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-29, 3-130, 4-130, 5-146, 6-163.
Hyderabad bowling: Ravi Teja 8-1-26-2, Kak 9-2-35-1, Ajay Goud 8-1-55-0, Thyagarajan 8-0-50-1, Bhagath 5-0-14-2, Rohit 1-0-1-0.