Propelled by a scintillating century by AT Rayudu, hosts Hyderabad amassed 323 for 7 against Rajasthan on opening day of the Elite 'B' Ranji Trophy match played at the Gymkhana grounds in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Rayudu scripted an elegant knock of 124 and formed the backbone of the Hyderabad innings associating with Anirudh Singh (50) to put up 56 runs for the third wicket after the hosts were reduced to 48 for 2.
In-form Arjun Yadav joined Rayudu and the duo put up a quick-fire 161 runs for the fifth wicket before Yadav went down to speedster Sumeet Mathur for a well made 52.
Rayudu took the battle further and displayed some good strokeplay picking up 15 fours in a space of 178 balls to script a sparkling innings of 124 on a chilly Christmas day before Sumeet Mathur dismissed him.
After Rayudu's dismissal at 288, the hosts continued their dominance and coasted to 323 at close with Fiaz Ahmed on 36 and Vishnuvardhan on 1 at the crease.
For Rajasthan, Mathur claimed 3 for 91 while Sanjeev Sharma and Md Aslam took two wickets apiece.
Hyderabad (first innings):
D S Manohar c Jhalani b Sumeet 4
Anirudh Singh c Jhalani b Sanjeev Sharma 50
D Vinay Kumar c Abhijeet Sharma b Aslam 19
A T Rayudu c Rahul Kanwat b Sanjeev Sharma 124
N Arjun Yadav c Sanjeev Sharma b Sumeet 52
Ibrahim Khaleel c Jhalani b Sumeet 6
Mohd Faiz Ahmed batting 36
J Shivaji Yadav lbw b Aslam 5
S Vishnu Vardhan batting 1
Extras (b-8, lb-6, w-4, nb-8) 26
Total (for seven wickets in 90 overs) 323
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-48, 3-104, 4-265, 5-275, 6-288, 7-311.
Bowling: Sumeet Mathur 23-1-91-3, Krishna Kumar 12-1-33-0, Sanjeev Sharma 16-3-56-2, Mohd Aslam 11-2-27-2, Rahul Kanwat 16-1-50-0, Devendrapal Singh 11-0-49-0, Gagan Khoda 1-0-3-0.
