Hyderabad juggernaut rolls on
Riding on a brilliant 50-ball 75 (5x4, 2x6) by Tilak Varma, Hyderabad rattled up a challenging 158/5 in 20 overs.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad juggernaut continued to roll on in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. The Tanmay Agarwal-led Hyderabad team had the measure of Gujarat by 30 runs to storm into the semifinals at the Palam Grounds in New Delhi on Thursday. This was Hyderabad’s sixth successive. They had won all their five matches in the Elite Group E league. Hyderabad meet Tamil Nadu in the semifinals at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday while Karnataka face Vidarbha in the other semifinal.
Riding on a brilliant 50-ball 75 (5×4, 2×6) by Tilak Varma, Hyderabad rattled up a challenging 158/5 in 20 overs. Gujarat were stopped at 128/8 in 20 overs. It was yet another stellar show by Hyderabad. In the first session, Hyderabad lost Pragnay Reddy in the third over. But the in-form Tanmay Agarwal, in the company of Varma, put on 46 runs. The left-handed Tanmay was in his elements as he struck four fours and one six before he was castled by veteran leg spinner Piyush Chawla for a 21-ball 31. However, the left-handed Varma was unstoppable. He literally toyed with the Gujarat attack and reached 50 off 36 balls.
Varma and Himalay Agarwal (23) shared 53 runs for the third wicket. Although B Sandeep was out for a duck, the young Buddhi Rahul dazzled with bat hitting a 16-ball 25 not out (3×4, 1×6). Varma, who was out off the last ball, and Rahul propelled to 158.
Chasing 159 for a win, Gujarat were never in the hunt as Hyderabad bowlers were tight and incisive. Left-arm seamer CV Milind added one more wicket to take his wickets’ tally to 17 in the tournament. He removed opener Urvil Patel in the second over. Medium-pacer T Ravi Teja, who again came up with impressive bowling along with CTL Rakshann, sent back D Raval and when SD Chauhan was run out, Gujarat were reduced to 33 for 3. Het (25) and skipper Chawla tried to rally Gujarat. Coming in for his second spell, Rakshann broke the dangerous pair by scalping the wicket of Het. Left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan gave Hyderabad a crucial wicket by dismissing the dangerous Chawla. The hard-hitting Ripal Patel was superbly caught at long on by athletic Sandeep off Milind, who got his 18th wicket of the tournament. Sandeep was brilliant on the field, effecting a run out and taking three catches. Gujarat choked on Ripal’s dismissal before they surrendered meekly. Ravi Teja ended up with fine figures of 3/28.
Hyderabad
Tanmay Agarwal b Chawla 31 (21b 4×4, 1×6), Pragnay Reddy lbw Gaja 1 (5b), Tilak Varma (run out) 75 (50b, 5×4, 2×6), Himalay Agarwal c Patel b Gaja 23 (26b, 1×4), B Sandeep ct Urvil Patel b Chawla 0 (2b), Buddhi Rahul (not out) 25 (16b, 3×4, 1×6), Extras (w2, lb1) 3, Total (for 5 wkts in 20 overs) 158; Fall of wickets; 1-9, 2-55, 3-108, 4-108, 5-158; Bowling: Kalaria 3-0-41-0; Karan P Patel 3-0-21-0; C T Gaja 4-0-32-2; Tejas R Patel 3-0-32-0; Piyush Chawla 4-0-9-2; H P Patel 3-0-22-0
Gujarat
D Raval c Milind b Ravi Teja 7 (11b, 1×4), Urvil Patel c Sandeep b Milind 1 (3b), SD Chauhan (run out) 9 (18b), Het c Milind b Rakshann 25 (24b, 3×4), P Chawla c Milind b Thyagarajan 25 (20b, 2×4, 1×6), Ripal Patel c Sandeep b Milind 35 (24b, 1×4, 2×4), Karan P Patel c Thyagarajan b Teja 4 (5b), R B Kalaria (not out) 15 (11b, 1×4, 1×6), C T Gaja c Thyagarajan b Teja 0 (2b), Tejas R Patel (not out) 2 (2b), Extras (w4, lb1) 5, Total (for 8 wkts in 20 overs) 128; Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-8, 3-33, 4-63, 5-74, 6-96, 7-113, 8-124; Bowling: Rakshann 4-0-19-1; Milind 4-0-28-2; Ravi Teja 4-0-27-3; Tanay Thyagarajan 4-0-24-1; Mehdi Hasan 4-0-29-0
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