Ranji Trophy: Punjab in firm control against Hyderabad

PATIALA: Punjab captain Mandeep Singh compiled a sparkling double hundred on the way to his second consecutive century in the ongoing Ranji Trophy as the hosts amassed a huge first innings total against Hyderabad at Dhruv Pandove Stadium, here on Thursday.


The 28-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, remained unbeaten on 204 after bringing up his 13 first-class century, and third double century, as Punjab declared their first innings closed on 443 for six wickets.

The declaration from Punjab came when debutant Karan Kaila completed his maiden half century and had a healthy first innings lead of 201 runs.

Resuming the third day on 167 for 4, Punjab lost their fifth wicket in the very first over. Sharad Lumba (26) went for a cheeky single but a direct throw from an alert Yudhvir Singh from the mid-wicket ended his innings.

Next in, Anmol Malhotra (80) again played a perfect ally for Mandeep. A rollicking 174-run sixth-wicket between Anmol Malhotra and Mandeep Singh, guided the hosts comfortably to surpass the visitor’s first innings tally of 242. It was also Punjab’s highest partnership for the sixth wicket, surpassing the 141 between Pankaj Dharmani and Vishwas Bhalla against Uttar Pradesh in Meerut in November 2010.

In their opening match against Rajasthan, Mandeep and Anmol had added 143 runs under pressure.

Mandeep, who hit 22 fours and three sixes in his knock, and debutant Karan Kaila (54 not out) then dampened Hyderabad’s morale further with a quick-fire 101-run stand for the seventh wicket.

Armed with the second new ball, which was about five overs old, Mohammad Siraj and Yudhvir Singh started off strongly to keep the batsmen on their toes. There were not many scoring opportunities provided by the fast bowlers and most runs came off the edge of the bat.

Once the ball had lost a bit of shine and the pitch some movement, Mandeep opened up and converted his overnight century into a double hundred. Trademark drives on both sides of the wicket flowed from the right-hander’s bat as Punjab piled on the runs in their first innings on a surface expected to assist the slow bowlers more as the match progressed. A late cut for two off Saaketh brought up the hundred for Mandy, while hooked a half-tracker from Mehedi Hasan for a boundary to get to his double century.

On the other hand, Karan also showed his prowess with the bat by completing his half-century in just 62 balls with the help of eight boundaries.

In reply, a tired and dispirited Hyderabad were reeling at 30 for 5 at close of play, to stare at a herculean task of batting on the final day to save the match. Himalay Aggarwal (14 not out) and Chama Milind (0 not out) were at the crease.

For Punjab, debutant Akul Pandove (2/13) was the most impressive bowler. Sandeep Sharma (1/6), Sanvir Singh (1/5) and Mayank Markande (1/2) also chipped with a wicket each.

Scorecard:

Hyderabad: 1st innings 242 all out

Punjab: 1st innings - overnight 167 for 4

Sanvir Singh ct GA Shashidhar Reddy b Yudhvir Singh 14, Shubman Gill ct Sumanth Kolla b Md Siraj 0, Gurkeerat Mann b Md Siraj 5, Mandeep Singh not out 204, Anmolpreet Singh ct Sumanth Kolla b Md Siraj 54, Sharad Lumba run out Yudhvir Singh 26, Anmol Malhotra ct Tanmay Agarwal b Md Siraj 80, Karan Kaila not out 54

Extras: 6 (nb 3, w 2, b 0, lb 1, pen 0)

Total: 443/6 wickets dec in 108 overs

Bowling: Md Siraj 19-2-77-4, Yudhvir Singh 14-1-72-1, Mehdi Hasan 35-4-101-0, Chama Milind 14-3-63-0, Saaketh 18-0-93-0, B Sandeep 8-0-36-0

FOW: 1-1 (Shubman Gill, 0.6 ov) , 2-19 (Gurkeerat Mann, 4.1 ov) , 3-23 (Sanvir Singh, 5.2 ov) , 4-105 (Anmolpreet Singh, 32.5 ov) , 5-168 (Sharad Lumba, 51.6 ov) , 6-342 (Anmol Malhotra, 88.2 ov)

Hyderabad: 2nd Innings

Tanmay Agarwal ct Anmol Malhotra b Sandeep Sharma 5, Akshath Reddy ct Anmol Malhotra b Sanvir Singh 4, GA Shashidhar Reddy ct & b Akul Pandove 4, B Sandeep ct Sharad Lumba b Akul Pandove 1, Himalay Agarwal not out 14, Sumanth Kolla ct Anmol Malhotra b Mayank Markande 2, Chama Milind not out 0

Extras: 0 (nb 0, w 0, b 0, lb 0, pen 0)

Total: 30/5 in 23 overs

Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 7-3-6-1, Sanvir Singh 3-1-5-1, Akul Pandove 8-3-13-2, Gurkeerat Mann 1-1-0-0, Mayank Markande 3-2-2-1, Karan Kaila 1-0-4-0.