Hyderabad’s Tanmay Agarwal celebrates his century during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 cricket match against Vidarbha, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, in Nagpur, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A composed century from opener Tanmay Agarwal helped Hyderabad take control of its Ranji Trophy Group B encounter against Vidarbha at the VCA Stadium here on Friday. The southpaw recorded his fourth hundred this season, crossing the 900-run mark in the process, to help the side record a 136-run lead at the end of the first innings.
Vidarbha openers Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey held fort for over an hour before Rakshann Readdi beat the latter’s defence fifteen minutes before the close of play. Nightwatchman Aditya Thakare’s attempt to bat out the last few balls too failed after he was cleaned up by Mohammed Siraj to leave the home team 80 runs behind the visitor with eight wickets in the bag heading into day three.
Resuming the innings on the second day, trailing Vidarbha by 100 runs, Tanmay took his time to get going despite the pitch being relatively harmless. The 29-year-old’s first boundary came after 22 overs in the day — a reverse sweep through third man.
Himateja, who dominated the 49-run partnership, fell to an inspired field change, pushing a ball from off-spinner Akshay Wakhare to backward short leg. Tanmay played second fiddle in most of the partnerships with the middle order. The barrage of left-handed batters also ensured that the competition’s leading wicket-taker, left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, was kept out of the attack for most of the day.
Hyderabad’s Varun Goud plays a shot during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 cricket match against Vidarbha, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, in Nagpur, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Varun Goud rotated the strike with ease during his 24-run sojourn, before Rahul Buddhi showcased a few unconventional shots in his 61-run partnership with Tanmay. The opener completed his century off 164 balls, leaping up in the air and letting out an upward punch in celebration.
Tanay Thyagarajan and skipper C.V. Milind struck a few classical boundaries during their cameos, but once Thakur breached Tanmay’s defence, the innings stumbled to a close, with three wickets falling in a trice after tea.
The scores: Vidarbha – 1st innings: 190.
Hyderabad – 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal b Thakur 136, Abhirath Reddy c Taide b Thakur 20, Rahul Radesh b Wakhare 12, K. Himateja c Malewar b Wakhare 31, Varun Goud b Rekhade 24, Rahul Buddhi c Wakhare b Thakare 26, Tanay Thyagarajan b Rekhade 24, C.V. Milind c Wadkar b Thakur 38, Rakshann Readdi b Dubey 8, Mohammed Siraj (not out) 0, G. Anikethreddy lbw b Dubey 0; Extras: (lb-2, w-5) 7; Total (in 91.4 overs): 326.
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-72, 3-121, 4-164, 5-225, 6-262, 7-305, 8-326, 9-326.
Vidarbha bowling: Dubey 14.4-2-57-2, Thakare 17-4-55-1, Thakur 21-2-80-3, Wakhare 19-1-62-2, Rekhade 14-0-51-2, Karun 6-0-19-0.
Vidarbha – 2nd innings: Atharva Taide (batting) 20, Dhruv Shorey b Rakshann 23, Aditya Thakare b Siraj 5; Extras: (b-4, lb-4) 8; Total (for two wkts. in 19.5 overs): 56.
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-56
Hyderabad bowling: Siraj 5.5-2-11-1, Milind 3-0-9-0, Thyagarajan 6-0-15-0, Rakshann 5-1-13-1.
Published – January 31, 2025 07:10 pm IST
