Kunal Singh Rathore and Ajay Singh’s unbeaten stand keeps Rajasthan alive in Ranji Trophy

Rajasthan's Kunal Singh Rathore (64*) and Ajay Singh (42*) put on an unbroken 104-run partnership to keep their team in contention against Hyderabad on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match, chasing Hyderabad's 364

Hyderabad: Kunal Singh Rathore (64 not out, 103b, 7×4, 1×6) and Kukna Ajay Singh (42 not out, 94b, 4×4, 1×6) put together an unbroken 104-run stand for the sixth wicket to keep Rajasthan’s hopes of taking the vital first innings lead alive against Hyderabad on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

In reply to the home team’s total of 364, Rajasthan was struggling at 117 for five in 41.1 overs before Kunal Singh and Ajay Singh joined forces to help the team reach 221 for five at the close of play.

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Earlier, Rajasthan had a decent start with openers Salman Khan (37, 105b, 1×4) and Sachin Yadav (43, 67b, 4×4, 1×6) adding 68 runs in 22.2 overs before left-arm pacer Chama Milind forced Sachin to snick to wicketkeeper Rahul Radesh.

Later, left-arm spinner G. Aniketh Reddy first trapped Rajasthan captain Mahipal Lomror (13, 37b, 1×4) lbw, and Tanay Thyagarajan sent back Salman (lbw) and cleaned up Kartik Sharma (0) in quick succession to leave Rajasthan in a spot of bother at 105 for four in 36.6 overs.

Soon, Aniketh Reddy struck another big blow, dismissing Deepak Hooda (17, 25b, 1×4) to leave Rajasthan in serious trouble, having lost five wickets.

But the left-handed duo of 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Kunal Singh and Ajay Singh batted sensibly to pull Rajasthan out of the woods, blending caution with aggression.

To the dismay of the Hyderabad camp, the bowlers failed to break the sixth-wicket partnership, which could prove to be decisive.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 295 for seven, with Rahul Radesh on 85, Hyderabad owed its first innings total of 364 largely to 22-year-old Rahul Radesh’s impressive second Ranji century (129, 202b, 16×4). He was the ninth batter to be dismissed and clearly held the innings together, helping the team post a challenging score.

The scores:
Hyderabad 364 in 104.1 overs (Rahul Radesh 129, Aniket Choudhary 2/51, Ashok Kumar 3/89, Rahul Chahar 3/96) vs Rajasthan 221/5 in 72 overs (Salman Khan 37, Sachin Yadav 43, Kunal Singh Rathore 64 not out, Kukna Ajay Singh 42 not out, G. Aniketh Reddy 2/58, Tanay Thyagarajan 2/58)