Tripura batsmen make merry

HYDERABAD: Having lost all their five games this season thus far, Tripura had nothing to lose as they took the field against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Group C match. It was this 'fearless' approach that helped the visitors turn the heat on the hosts on the first day of their four-day tie the RGIC Stadium in Uppal, here on Friday.
It was a good toss to win for the visitors and skipper Yogesh Takawale had no hesitation in batting first on a wicket, which is supposed to aid the spinners as the match progresses.But on Day One, the hosts' bowlers couldn't get much purchase from the wicket and the Tripura batsmen capitalized to pile on the runs.
At close of play, Tripura were 285 for two with left-handed Manisankar Murasingh batting on 140 (207b; 13x4, 4x6). Giving him company was Takawale on 65 (153b; 6x4). The duo added 194 for the unbroken third wicket.
Looking for a win, Hyderabad had gone in with a spin-based attack but the move didn't pay much dividend as left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan, who had come in place of Pragyan Ojha, and offie Amol Shinde, who had replaced mediumpacer P Kaneshkk Naidu, were unable to put pressure on the rival batsmen.
Tripura openers K Singha (26; 72b, 3x4) and KB Pawan saw off the opening bowlers without much fuss and then set about to tackle the spinners. However, mediumpacer Ravi Kiran succeeded to breach Singha's defence and knock out the off-stump to give Hyderabad the much needed break.
Pawan was joined by southpaw Murasingh and the duo took the score past the 100-run mark. Murasingh, who looked a bit out of sorts while playing the drive against the spinners early on in his innings, adopted an aggressive approach. His boldness paid off as the Hyderabad spinners were pushed on to the backfoot. The hosts had their second and final success of the day when Shinde had Pawan (44; 113b 113b, 4x4) at the stroke of lunch.
Thereafter, Murasingh and Takawale held the fort, but cautiously, adding 85 runs in 31 overs in the second session of the day. The duo then turned on the heat in the final session going after the Hyderabad bowling. Hyderabad's best chance to get a breakthrough came when Takawale lofted Shinde towards widish long on but Ahmed Quadri couldn't hold on to that chance. The Tripura captain was on 37 and the side score 206.
The 20-year-Murasingh had some anxious moments on 98 when he survived a confident caught behind appeal by Shinde. Two balls later, Murasingh cut Shinde past point to notch up his maiden Ranji Trophy century. It came off 170 balls and contained 12 hits to the fence and two over it.
With eight wickets still standing, the visitors will be looking to post a big total and mount the pressure on the hosts, whose hopes of an outright win have already taken a severe beating on the first day itself.
SCOREBOARD
Tripura (1st Innings): K Singha b Ravi Kiran 26, KB Pawan c Habeeb b Shinde 44, M Murasingh (batting) 140, Y Takawale (batting) 65; Extras: (B3, LB2, NB5) 10. Total: (for 2 wickets, 90 overs) 285.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-101.
Bowling: A Absolom 11-1-39-0, Ravi Kiran 13-3-36-1, Lalith Mohan 27-5-84-0, GH Vihari 4-2-7-0, A Shinde 26-1-82-1, B Sandeep 2-0-7-0, A Quadri 4-0-16-0, T Suman 2-0-7-0, DB Ravi Teja 1-0-2-0.