Hyderabad bowlers face late resistance as Chhattisgarh post 279/7

Hyderabad: The moments of joy for Hyderabad were like the passing clouds hovering over Gymkhana Ground as Chattisgarh fought back remarkably well every time it looked in a spot of bother to post 279 for seven in 87 overs on the first day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match here on Monday.

Electing to bat, Chhattisgarh lost opener Aayush Pandey (17) in the ninth over when pacer Rakshann Readdi induced a snick to wicketkeeper Pragnay Reddy.

Then, a handy 65-run stand between the other opener Anuj Tiwary (72, 133b, 5×4, 1×6) and wicketkeeper-batter Mayank Verma (36, 59b, 6×4) helped Chattisgarh to overcome that early blow before left-arm spinner G. Anikethreddy struck twice in the 26th over.

First, Aniketh had Mayank caught behind and then dismissed Sanjeet Desai (0) to make it 87 for three.

Chhattisgarh was in for more trouble with captain Amandeep Khare (0) dismissed by left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan with the batter surprised by extra bounce to be caught at slip and the scoreline read a disappointing 94 for four in 28.5 overs.

Then, Anuj Tiwary and Vikalp Tiwari (69, 96b, 8×4, 1×6) put on a crucial 93-run stand for the fifth wicket which pushed the home team on to the back foot on a pitch which had more life than the previous one for the Punjab match with curators Karthik and Mukesh Kumar putting in the desired efforts.

Just when things looked to be drifting away, Hyderabad captain and left-arm pacer Chama Milind trapped Anuj  Tiwary lbw and soon off-spinner Ruthik Mende cleaned up the well-set Vikalp Tiwari to make it 216 for six in 62.4 overs.

At that stage, Hyderabad bowlers were expected to mop up the tail but that was not to be as the seasoned India star Jayant Yadav (36 batting, 108b, 4×4) and southpaw Prateek Yadav (27, 64b, 1×4, 1×6) frustrated the host with a fighting 48-run stand  for the seventh wicket before Rakshann picked his second wicket to dismiss the latter.

The scores: 1st day: Chhattisgarh 279/7 in 87 overs (Anuj Tiwary 72, Mayank Verma 36, Vikalp Tiwari 69, Jayant Yadav 36 batting, Rakshann Readdi 2/34, G. Anikethreddy 2/59) vs Hyderabad.