Rayudu to the rescue against Karnataka

Cricket: Buchi Babu tournament: Hyderabad post 246 on day one of semifinal tie

Electing to bat, Hyderabad got off to a reasonable start as T Suman and Abhinav Kumar put on 37 for the first wicket when left-arm spinner KP Appanna dismissed Abhinav leg before. Shortly afterwards, offie Udit Patel had Suman stumped for 28.

Rayudu and Benjamin Thomas (47) put on 98 runs for the third wicket to resuscitate the innings. Rayudu’s 97-run knock, which came off 164 deliveries, was studded with six fours and a six. He was clean bowled by A Mithun, who finished with three wickets for 42 runs.

Left-arm medium-pacer S Aravind and leg-spinner Amit Verma took two wickets apiece. In reply, Karnataka were eight without loss in three overs with KB Pawan (6) and CM Gautam (1) at the crease.

In the other semifinal, Dipak Sharma (101) and Abijit Singa Roy (96) rescued Assam after a top-order collapse to help them to a modest 267 all out against Tamil Nadu Combined Districts at the MA Chidambaram stadium. The fourth-wicket pair held the innings together before Assam folded up.

Opting to bat first, Assam were in dire straits, losing three wickets for 14 runs in 7.2 overs. But Roy and Sharma shared a 155-run fourth-wicket stand to help the team claw back into the game.

Roy fell short of hundred when he was run out while attempting to take a cheeky single.

After playing straight to medium-pacer R Jesuraj, Roy took off but the bowler on his follow through ran the batsman out.

Roy faced 254 balls for his 96. Sharma also did not stay long as he holed out to a superb catch at mid-off by KB Arun Karthik off Jesuraj’s bowling. Sharma’s 101 came off 154 balls including 11 fours and a six.

For Combined Districts, Jesuraj (4/56), C Suresh (2/46) and MK Sivakumar (2/51) shared the wickets.


Brief scores: At IG-GNC grounds: Hyderabad: 246 all out in 84.3 overs (T Suman 28, AT Rayudu 97, Benjamin Thomas 47; A Mithun 3-42; S Aravind 2-42, Amit Verma 2-34) vs Karnataka: 8/0 in 3 overs.

At MA Chidambaram stadium: Assam: 267 all out in 87.5 overs (Abijit Singa Roy 96, Dipak Sharma 101; R Jesuraj 4-56, C Suresh 2-46, MK Shivakumar 2-51) vs Tamil Nadu Combined Districts.