Abhirath, Himateja centuries put Hyderabad in command against Chhattisgarh

Hyderabad rode centuries from Abhirath Reddy and K. Himateja to post 415 for four against Chhattisgarh, taking a commanding 132-run first-innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad seemed to have reserved the best batting performance for the last league match of this Ranji Trophy season! For, the home team, thanks to impressive centuries by opener Abhirath Reddy (121, 186b, 16×4, 1×6) and southpaw K. Himateja (125 batting, 207b, 13×4) posted an imposing 415 for four in reply to Chattisgarh’s 283 in the first innings at close of play on the second day of the Elite Group D match at Gymkhana Ground here on Friday.

Hyderabad has a lead of 132 runs with six wickets in hand and clearly in a position to dictate terms. Resuming at the overnight score of 56 for no loss, the highly-rated P. Aman Rao (52, 79b, 8×4, 1×6) and Abhirath put on 40 more runs before the former was dismissed in the 25th over. Later, the in-form G. Rahul Singh (39, 32, 6×4, 1×6) joined Abhirath to add 48 runs for the second wicket before Rahul was forced to snick to wicketkeeper Mayank Verma by pacer Dev Aditya Singh in the 33rd over (2/142). Then, Abhirath and K. Himateja strung together a 147-run stand for the third wicket which effectively pushed Chattisgarh on to the backfoot. Both the batters demonstrated the essence of a disciplined approach and wonderful stroke selection.

Abhirath’s stroke-play was predominantly on-side while Himateja essayed some delectable strokes square on the off-side to ensure that the Chattisgarh bowlers had little chance of coming back into the game. It was Abhirath who first reached the three-figure milestone and he looked to change gears soon, picking. He picked pacer Aditya Singh for special treatment. Played a delectable late cut, swung to the fence and cleared the fence over mid-wicket in one over off Aditya. However, he perished soon when off-spinner Aayush Pandey forced him to play a defensive push only to see the edge to be caught behind in the 69th over (289/3).

Later, Himateja completed a truly deserving century and importantly stayed put till the end in the company of a free-stroking wicketkeeper-batter Pragnay Reddy (52 batting, 66b, 8×4, 1×6) to ensure Hyderabad finished the day on top. The scores: 2nd day: Chattisgarh 283 in 72.3 overs vs Hyderabad 415/4 in 105 overs (Aman Rao 52, Abhirath Reddy 121, G. Rahul Singh 39, K. Himateja 125 batting, Pragnay Reddy 52 batting, 66b, 8×4, 1×6).