Ranji Trophy: Tanmay, Badri lift Hyderabad

RAIPUR: The second day's play turned out to be a cat and mouse game with both sides going to bed believing they had the upper hand. Hyderabad, replying to Mumbai's 294, reached 167 for three at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, here on Saturday.
Mumbai should fancy their chances because of the pattern of play in the last two days.The morning session is proving to be the dangerous one for batsmen -four wickets fell on day one and seven on day 2. Thus the onus will be on the Hyderabad batsmen, who will need to break the pattern.
They have two batsmen at the crease who are best known for their ability to stonewall any attack. Opener Tanmay Agarwal is batting on 63 (223b; 7x4) and B Sandeep is on 10 (64b; 1x4).
The duo has added 32 in 122 balls. Hyderabad will be hoping that they see off the first session with minimum damage.
Hyderabad began their reply sedately with Tanmay and P Akshath Reddy in all sorts of trouble but they held their ground. The introduction of medium pacer Abhishek Nayar into the attack, however, changed the situation. He got rid of Akshath (13) and B Anirudh (4) in quick succession to reduce Hyderabad to 30 for two.
Badrinath (56; 137b; 9x4, 1x6) walked in and took charge of the proceedings immediately. The skipper, knowing that his junior partner was at sea against the Mumbai attack, farmed the bowling. The senior pro took the attack to the rival camp after lunch break as runs came at a steady pace in what is turning out to be the most productive session for the batsmen. The duo added 92 in the post lunch session and Hyderabad were well placed at 127 for two.
However, after the tea break, Badrinath suffered a cramp in his right hand and seemed to be in a lot of pain. After treatment from the physio, he resumed his innings but never looked comfortable. That was the opening Mumbai were looking for and Nayar, who claimed all the wickets to fall, started making life miserable for Badrinath. With offie Akshay Girap drying up the runs at the other end, pressure mounted on the Hyderabad batsmen. Nayar had three leg before shouts turned down before he broke through Badrinath's defences. However, Tanmay and Sandeep saw their side through without further damage.
Earlier in the morning, the Hyderabad seamers brought their side back into the game. CV Milind and Md Siraj decimated the Mumbai tail after Ravi Kiran had got rid of Siddhesh Lad early on. Milind finished with five for 80 ­ the second five-wicket haul of his career.
Ravi Kiran struck the first blow by having Siddhesh Lad (110; 205b, 16x4, 1x6) caught behind and Abhishek Nayar (59; 111b, 9x4) too didn't last long as he was trapped leg before by Milind. Siraj struck twice in his third over to destroy Mumbai's hopes of having a few more runs on the board. Siraj induced Shardul Thakur (10) to go in for a pull but the mishit went towards the square leg umpire and the alert bowler pulled off a catch.