Hyderabad E-Champions stay unbeaten after Abhirath Reddy’s match-winning ton

Captain M Abhirath Reddy struck an unbeaten 101 to lead Hyderabad E-Champions to a six-wicket victory over Warangal Warriors in the Sreenidhi University TG20 League. The win kept E-Champions unbeaten after five matches and at the top of the points table

Hyderabad: Captain and opener M Abhirath Reddy led from the front with a superbly paced century (101 n.o., 43b, 7×4, 9×6) to guide Hyderabad E-Champions to a convincing six-wicket win against Warangal Warriors in the Sreenidhi University TG20 League cricket championship at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Abhirath helped E-Champions chase down the target of 174 in 20 overs in style with a brilliant knock. He hit a six off pacer Salman Khan when the team needed two runs to reach the target and also completed his first century of the championship. He had earlier been dismissed for 99 in a previous round.

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E-Champions remained unbeaten in five matches to stay on top of the points table.

Earlier, Warangal Warriors openers Harshit Choudhary (22, 14b, 1×4, 2×6) and captain Aman Rao (45, 20b, 7×4, 2×6) put on 64 runs in 5.1 overs.

Then, medium-pacer Ajay Dev Goud struck a double blow in the sixth over, dismissing Harshit and Aman Rao to make it 69/2.

A fourth-wicket stand of 50 between Rishiket Sisodia (38, 32b, 3×4, 1×6) and Sunkari Dheeraj (18, 16b, 2×4) put the Warriors’ innings back on track before they started losing wickets at regular intervals as Ajay Dev Goud struck again to send back Adi Mani Kiran (5).

Warriors eventually finished at 173/9, thanks to a breezy knock by leg-spinner Shaunak Kulkarni (24, 7b, 3×4, 2×6).

When E-Champions began the chase, they lost opener Vikas Reddy (10) and Ajay Dev Goud (0), the latter run out, in the third over to make it 31/2. In the fourth over, the team suffered another blow, losing Anvith Reddy (4) to medium-pacer Salman Khan.

At 42/3, E-Champions were clearly in trouble. But captain and opener Abhirath Reddy, who reached his half-century off just 24 balls with three fours and five sixes, and G Gadugu Ganesh (50, 31b, 1×4, 5×6) put on a crucial stand of 77 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team closer to the target before the latter was dismissed by Kulkarni in the 12th over (119/4).

The scores: Warangal Warriors 173/9 in 20 overs (Aman Rao 45, Rishiket Sisodia 38, Ajay Dev Goud 3/27) lost to Hyderabad E-Champions 178/4 in 15.3 overs (Abhirath Reddy 101 n.o., Gadugu Ganesh 50).

Player of the match: M Abhirath Reddy.