Teja, Kak restrict Assam to modest total

Hyderabad: A confident Assam, after being dismissed for a lowly 205 in their first innings, hit back to leave hosts Hyderabad struggling at 78 for three on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Tuesday.On an intriguing day of battle, Hyderabad had the upper hand early after skipper Tanmay Aggarwal elected to field. Making good use of early moisture on the pitch, Hyderabad bowlers T Ravi Teja and medium-pacer Karthikeya Kak struck early blows to leave Assam reeling at 42 for five at one stage. Medium-pacer Teja was the first to strike, dismissing Assam skipper Kunal Saikia for one. Kak quickly removed Rahul Hazarika (11) and Sidharth Sarmah (0). Last-match centurion Rishav Das (14) and Rajasthan Royals IPL player Riyan Parag (10) too fell cheaply to Teja. However, Assam recovered through Sibsankar Roy (25 off 42b) and last match centurion Gokul Sharma (24 off 75b). Big-hitting Sarupam Purkayastha’s 83 (88b; 4x11, 6x3) and a couple of useful partnerships, including 42 runs for the eighth wicket with Akash Sengupta and another 39 runs for the last wicket with Sunil Lachit saw Assam cross the 200-run mark.Despite restricting Assam to a low score, Hyderabad batsmen failed to drive home the advantage. Medium-pacer Mukhtar Hussain, who went wicketless in his first spell, struck twice in his first over of the second spell to dismiss debutant M Samhith Reddy (11) and Mickil Jaiswal (4) and reduced the hosts to 50 for three. Earlier, skipper Tanmay Aggarwal, who looked confident during his stay at the wicket, fell to Akash Sengupta for 21 (34b, 4x4). Following their 217-run defeat to Mumbai, Hyderabad made four changes to the squad and three players — wicket-keeper Bhavesh Seth, spinner Bhagath Varma and batter M Samhith Reddy — made their debut.