Himateja’s unbeaten 123 puts Hyderabad in command against Andhra

K Himateja’s unbeaten 123 helped Hyderabad declare at 306 for seven against Andhra in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match. Chasing a target of 397, Andhra finished the third day at seven for two, facing a difficult task to save the match.

Hyderabad: Southpaw K. Himateja struck a brilliant unbeaten 123 (202b, 10×4, 5×6) to help Hyderabad dominate the third day against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at Mulapadu (Vijayawada) on Tuesday.

Resuming at the overnight score of 78 for one in the second essay, Hyderabad, at one stage was struggling at 101 for five losing quick wickets in the morning session including that of the well-set opener Tanmay Agarwal (on his overnight score of 49), Rahul Singh (2), Pragnay Reddy (5), Rahul Radesh (6) with medium-pacer K. Saiteja (four for 40) being the main wicket-taker. Off-spinner Tripurana Vijay was expensive in picking two wickets (2/119).

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It was a class effort from the spirited Himateja as he farmed the strike beautifully, even as he saw wickets fall frequently at the other end. First, with Ruthik Mende (31, 113b, 3×4, 1×6) Himateja strung together a stand of 99 runs and then another crucial match-turning stand of 93 runs with the gritty Tanay Thyagarajan (53 n.o., 64b, 2×4, 3×6) to help Hyderabad eventually declare at 306 for seven in 95.3 overs.

Set a target of 397 runs, Andhra was off to a dismal start with left-arm spinner Abhishek Reddy (1) and the fist innings top-scorer Shaik Rasheed (1) and finished the day on a disappointing seven for two.

It was Hyderabad day by any means and Andhra now faces an uphill task to save the match for sure.

The scores: Hyderabad 275 in 86 overs & 306/7 decl in 95.3 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 49, K. Himateja 123 n.o., Ruthik Mende 31, Tanay Thyagarajan 53 n.o., Kavuri Saiteja 4/40, Tripurana Vijay 2/119) vs Andhra 184 in 63 overs & 7/2 in 4 overs.