Hyderabad rally hard to grab slender lead

Hyderabad: Hyderabad rallied brilliantly to wrest a first innings lead of 34 runs against Baroda on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Shot out for a lowly 197 in the first innings after another poor batting effort on the first day, Hyderabad staged a comeback through their bowlers to dismiss Baroda for 163.Resuming at 92 for two, Baroda found the going tough against the Hyderabad attack marshalled by seamers B Punnaiah and T Ravi Teja.
The duo shared eight wickets with the former returning figures of four for 35 and the latter four for 50 as Baroda were bundled out in 47 overs. Abhimanyu Singh (32) and VN Solanki (32) were the only ones to offer some resistance.
Hyderabad swelled the overall lead to 203 runs as they finished the day at 169 for six in the second innings. Hyderabad lost skipper Tanmay Agarwal with just 22 on the board but his opening parter Rohit Rayudu was unbeaten on 49 (171b, 4x5).
Rohit’s 74-run stand for the fifth wicket with Chandan Sahani saved Hyderabad after they slid to 33 for four as Alankrit Agarwal (6), Tilak Varma (0) and Jaweed Ali (0) fell in quick succession. Sahani cracked a 55-ball 54 (4x8) but Rohit found support in Ravi Teja, who was unbeaten on 36 (80b, 4x5). The duo has added 62 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket. Lukman Meriwala and Babashafi Pathan shared the spoils for Baroda with two wickets each.
Andhra wrest control
Andhra wrested the initiative against Uttarakhand in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
After dismissing table toppers Uttarakhand for 194, Andhra managed 226 thanks to a fighting half-century by young Shaik Rasheed (56) and CR Gnaneshwar’s 45 to eke out a 32-run lead.
Resuming at 42 for 1, Rasheed and opener Gnaneshwar added 30 more runs before the latter fell to Mayank Mishra (2 for 28). Rasheed and skipper Ricky Bhui (33) put on 57 runs for the third wicket before Uttarakhand bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict the lead.