Sport - Cricket

Hyderabad stumbles after good start

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

STRIKING BACK: Irfan Pathan and teammates celebrate the dismissal of Ravi Teja.

HYDERABAD: Former champion Baroda grabbed three wickets in the final session to get back into the game against Hyderabad which finished at 220 for four on the first day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday.

Openers S. Daniel Manohar (71, 279b, 6 x 4) and D.B. Ravi Teja (72, 164b, 6 x 4) dominated the first session with a century-stand.

Clearly, the hosts were determined to dictate terms after electing to bat and young Ravi Teja came up with a flamboyant knock. The way he walked into a pleasing off-drive and then rocked back to essay two authentic pulls to the fence — all off India star Irfan Pathan — was an ominous sign for Baroda.

Moreover Ravi Teja showed the technical competence to counter the odd ball which Irfan was able to swing away from the right-handers on a pitch which never really helped the fast bowlers.

So confident was Ravi Teja that he looked sure to score his second Ranji century of the season. But he once again failed to curb his penchant to go for extravagant strokes. He needlessly chased a wide ball from Irfan to be caught behind. The relief in the Baroda camp was understandable, for Ravi Teja treated even Irfan roughly in his first spell (7-0-35-0), hitting four fluent boundaries.

At lunch, Hyderabad was 120 for no loss in 37 overs with Ravi Teja on 72 and Daniel Manohar on 43. But in the third over after the break, once Ravi Teja departed, Hyderabad lost the initiative. This was the phase when Irfan came back strongly to bowl a tidy spell.

The scoring too dropped dramatically with only 55 runs coming from 32 overs for the loss of Ravi Teja’s wicket between lunch and tea break.

The final session saw Hyderabad fritter away the advantage. Daniel Manohar, who was dropped by left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar off his own bowling when on 40, too failed to convert a good start.

N. Arjun Yadav also perished cheaply, nullifying the good work by the openers.

The scores:

Hyderabad — 1st innings: S. Daniel Manohar c & b Pawar 71, D.B. Ravi Teja c Pinal Shah b I. Pathan 72, S. Anoop Pai (batting) 41, Ahmed Shakeer c Pinal b Pawar 17, N. Arjun Yadav c Pinal b Y. Pathan 6, Amol Shinde (batting) 2; Extras (lb-7, nb-1, w-3): 11. Total (for four wkts, 91 overs): 220.

Fall of wickets: 1-131, 2-180, 3-208, 4-217.

Baroda bowling: I. Pathan 29-3-61-1, Sunit 12-2-27-0, Chauhan 5-1-17-0, Pawar 26-7-55-2, Y. Pathan 26-6-52-1, Panchal 2-1-1-0.

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