Hyderabad escape defeat

Gujarat gained two points by virtue of the first innings lead, as Hyderabad wriggled out of a delicate situation to settle for a draw on the final day of the Elite B Group Ranji Trophy tie in Hyderabad.

The hosts scored 205 and 255, while Gujarat put on 406 and were 22 for one when the four-day match ended on Tuesday.

Hyderabad, after conceding first innings lead of 201 runs, came out of the woods with some rearguard action by N P Singh, who scored a valuable 24 to take the team total to 255.

With just four overs remaining, Gujarat scored 22 for the loss of opener A Bilakhia's wicket.

Resuming at 53 for 2 and a deficit of 138 runs overnight batsman DB Ravi Teja showed grit and technique to crack a useful 72, off 241 balls, with seven hits to the fence, while Aambati Rayudu gave him company with a polished 40.

The Gujarat spinners pushed the Hyderabad batsmen on the backfoot and Rayudu was foxed by T Patel. Arjun Yadav joined Teja and the duo held the fort as the score inched forward.

Teja was caught plumb before the wicket to a ball that kept low. Yadav gathered guts and opened up to hit five fours and two sixes in his 59 before he was caught behind by skipper Parthiv Patel.

Spinner A Singh engineered a middle order collapse, taking three quick wickets. With the score reading 200 for 8 a clear victory looked certain for the visitors.

NP Singh, however, stood like a rock among the ruins with Ojha (8) and both played out most of the mandatory overs as the team coasted to 255.

With a winning target of 55 runs and four overs left, the visitors settled for a draw.

Scorecard

Hyderabad (1st innings): 205 all out

Gujarat (1st innings): 406 for 9 declared

Hyderabad (2nd innings):
TS Suman c PA Patel b Majmudar 7
DB Ravi Teja lbw b Makda 72
A Singh c NK Patel b TK Patel 22
AT Rayudu c Thaker b TK Patel 40
AS Yadav c PA Patel b Makda 59
D Vinay Kumar c PA Patel b Singh 2
I Khaleel c Modi b Singh 0
PIS Reddy c PA Patel b Singh 0
PK Reddy b Makda 0
NP Singh not out 24
P Ojha c Bilakhia b TK Patel 6
Extras: (b 5, lb 5, nb 13) 23
Total: (all out; 118.2 overs) 255

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-62, 3-151, 4-178, 5-190, 6-196, 7-200, 8-203, 9-236.

Bowling: AM Makda 32-8-79-3, Majmudar 18-4-32-1, A Singh 30-9-59-3, JT Makla 9-2-17-0, TK Patel 23.2-11-43-3, HH Watekar 4-1-5-0, AA Bilakhia 2-0-10-0.

Gujarat (2nd innings):
Parthiv Patel not out 9
Bilakhia c & b PIS Reddy 0 Thaker not out 12
Extras: (lb 1) 1
Total: (1 wicket) 22

Fall of wicket: 1-1.

Bowling: PIS Reddy 2-0-12-1, PK Reddy 2-0-9-0.