Sumanth is Hyderabad’s saviour

His unbeaten 91 helps the home team clinch the first innings lead

Hyderabad’s saviour of the day turned out to be wicketkeeper-batsman K. Sumanth (91 batting, 157b, 11×4) as he helped the team clinch the vital first innings lead against Kerala on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.

Earlier, the Kerala innings, resuming at 126 for seven, lasted 10 overs and finished at 164 as the pace duo of Ravi Kiran and Mohd. Siraj claimed four wickets apiece to ensure the tail didn’t wag.

In reply, Hyderabad was off to disastrous start with seasoned opener P. Akshath Reddy failing once again, driving away from his body only to give a leading edge to the wicketkeeper Vishnu Vinod off pacer Sandeep Warrier’s fifth ball of the innings.

In the next over, Basil Thampi trapped captain Tanmay Agarwal leg before as he made a half-hearted, defensive push.

The home team’s batting woes continued with Himalay Agarwal doing exactly what former India captain Mohd. Azharuddin told him not to do in the nets — play a stroke without getting to the pitch of the ball. His attempted off-drive was snapped up smartly in his follow-through by Warrier.

The situation tested the efficacy of debutants J. Mallikarjun and Jaweed Ali but they failed, looking both out of sorts and over-cautious. They perished cheaply, playing irresponsible strokes.

Then, Sumanth and all-rounder T. Ravi Teja (32, 44b, 4×4) put on a a useful 46 with the latter being more aggressive even as the former decided to drop anchor.

Importantly, Sumanth strung together another gritty 72-run stand for the eighth wicket with Saaketh Sai Ram (27, 72b, 3×4) which effectively dashed whatever hopes Kerala had of coming back strongly after reducing the host to 110 for seven at one stage.

Sumanth was clearly the star of the day in the face of a splendid bowling performance by the Kerala pacers.

The scores:

Kerala — 1st innings: P. Rahul c Sumanth b Ravi Kiran 0, Jalaj Saxena c Jaweed b Siraj 10, Rohan Prem b Ravi Kiran 0, Robin Uthappa c Sumanth b Ravi Teja 9, Sachin Baby c Siraj b Saaketh 29, Vishnu Vinod lbw b Siraj 19, Salman Nizar c Sumanth b Ravi Kiran 37, Akshay Chandran (not out) 31, Basil Thampi c Himalay b Ravi Kiran 5, S. Sandeep Warrier lbw b Siraj 2, K.M. Asif lbw b Siraj 1, Extras (b-8, lb-7, nb-3, w-3): 21; Total (in 51.1 overs): 164.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-16, 3-32, 4-32, 5-70, 6-124, 7-124, 8-140, 9-152.

Hyderabad bowling: Siraj 18.1-3-59-4, Ravi Kiran 17-6-39-4, Ravi Teja 9-3-23-1, Hassan 2-0-4-0, Saaketh 5-1-24-1.

Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal lbw b Thampi 2, P. Akshath Reddy c Vishnu b Warrier 0, J. Mallikarjun c Chandran b Thampi 12, Himalay Agarwal c & b Warrier 4, Jaweed Ali c Rahul b Warrier 6, K. Sumanth (batting) 91, T. Ravi Teja c (sub) Azharuddeen b Chandran 32, Mehdi Hassan c & b Warrier 9, Saaketh Sai Ram st Vishnu b Chandran 27, M. Ravi Kiran (batting) 0, Extras (lb-5, nb-5): 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 68 overs): 193.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-3, 3-13, 4-19, 5-44, 6-90, 7-110, 8-182.

Kerala bowling: Warrier 17-4-54-4, Thampi 15-1-33-2, Asif 11-2-34-0, Jalaj Saxena 15-0-31-0, Chandran 10-1-36-2.

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