Meghalaya make it count on Day 1

Hyderabad: Two quickfire half-centuries put Meghalaya on a sound footing on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Plate group final against Hyderabad on Saturday.Having decided to bat, Meghalaya had to make optimum use of the first day wicket at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium if they had to put pressure on the hosts. The 81-run stand for the first wicket set the tone for their 304. Raj Biswa scored 64 off 49 deliveries with nine fours and three sixes in the opening partnership with Arien Sangma, a stand that the former clearly dominated, but Hyderabad recovered from the early onslaught with three wickets as Meghalaya went to lunch at 135 for three.Left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan, who had 46 scalps going into this match, duly completed his 50-wicket haul this season with another fifer. He trapped Biswa in front for his first wicket and also accounted for No. 4 batter Yogesh Tiwari for 11. Meghalaya skipper Kishan Lyngdoh, was also cleaned up by Tanay in the second session, which saw the visiting side add 100 runs for the loss of three wickets between lunch and tea, taken at 235 for six. Jaskirat Singh played a good hand for his 46 before he also fell to Tanay and Dippu Sangma chipped in with 42 but it was Akash Choudhary’s breezy, unbeaten 50 (57b, 4x4, 6x4) that swelled Meghalaya’s total past the 300-mark. The 87-run partnership for the seventh wicket also helped Meghalaya before they were dismissed an hour after the tea break.Hyderabad had to negotiate five tricky overs at the fag end of the day and they got off to a disastrous start as in-form opener Tanmay Agarwal was trapped in front by Chengkam Sangma, who for good measure also cleaned up Rohit Rayudu first ball. Skipper Tilak Varma and his deputy Rahul Singh were unbeaten as Hyderabad start the second day 279 runs behind.Brief scores: Meghalaya 304 in 83 overs (Raj Biswa 64, Jaskirat Singh 46, Dippu Sangma 42, Akash Choudhary 50*, Tanay Thyagarajan 5/103, Rohit Rayudu 3/33) vs Hyderabad 25/2 in 5 overs (G Rahul Singh 9*, Thakur Tilak Varma 10*). tnn