Syed Mushtaq Ali: Hyderabad record narrow win over Puducherry

Hyderabad: After suffering a demoralising loss in the opening match against Punjab on Tuesday, Hyderabad recorded a four-run victory over Puducherry in the Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in Jaipur on Wednesday. Asked to bat first, Hyderabad posted a modest total of 147/8, thanks to the second successive half-century from […]

Hyderabad: After suffering a demoralising loss in the opening match against Punjab on Tuesday, Hyderabad recorded a four-run victory over Puducherry in the Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Asked to bat first, Hyderabad posted a modest total of 147/8, thanks to the second successive half-century from N Thakur Tilak Varma (57 off 41) and a blitzkrieg (44 not out off 25) from Mickil Jaiswal. In reply, Punjab managed to score 143/4 in 20 overs.

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Earlier, Hyderabad once again had a poor start losing P Nitesh Reddy and Pragnay Reddy cheaply.

Captain Tanmay Agarwal and in-form batter Tilak Varma added 31 runs for the third wicket before the skipper departed in the 11th over at the team score 54. Once Mickil joined Tilak Varma the crease, the scoring rate increased. Tilak reached his half-century in 38 balls after hitting Jangir for successive sixes to score 22 off the 16th over. Jaiswal too cut loose and hit two sixes in consecutive overs. Tilak Varma then fell in the 17th over but Jaiswal hit six and four off in the 18th over off M Abin Mathew. However, at the other end, Hyderabad kept losing wickets in quick succession that hampered the chances of a big total. Jaiswal hit four sixes and two boundaries in his 25-ball essay.

In reply, Puducheery failed to have a quick start as Hyderabad bowlers bowled disciplined lines to check the scoring rate. After Tilak Varma provided a breakthrough with Damodaran Rohit’s wicket in the fifth over, Hyderabad pushed the opposition on the backfoot removing Paras Dogra and R Ragupaty (35 off 35) in quick succession.

Parameeswaran Sivaraman and Mohit Mattan added 47 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side close to the target. Both hit Rakshan for a 17-run over in the 16th to tilt the balance. But T Ravi Teja’s four-run over in the 17th meant the run-rate kept increasing. CV Milind dismissed Mittan in the 18th over to put Hyderabad back in the contest as Puducherry needed 31 off the final two overs. Ravi Teja’s 19th over yielded them 13 runs leaving Milind to defend 18 runs in the final over. However, didn’t start well conceding six and four off the first two deliveries. But he regained his focus and conceded just three of the final four deliveries to guide Hyderabad to first victory.