CHENNAI: Hyderabad spinners Rohit Rayudu (3/96), Nithin Sai Yadav (3/55) bagged six wickets among themselves to help their team bag a slender lead of 23 runs over TNCA President's XI on the third day of the Buchi Babu tournament played at the CSK-HPC grounds here on Monday. TNCA President's XI were all out for 353, later Hyderabad were 14/1 in 10 overs in their second essay when stumps were drawn.
Resuming the day on a comfortable 142/1, the hosts would have thought that taking the all-important lead was a formality, but that was not to be. Hyderabad spinners worked really hard on a hot and humid day, kept trying relentlessly and were suitably rewarded. Pradosh was the first to go as he fell leg before to a straighter one from Rohit. He then foxed S Radhakrishnan with a quicker one, trapping the well-settled player for 98. B Indrajith (50) and Ajitesh G (57) played effortlessly but once they fell to Aniketh and Varun, respectively, TNCA President's XI hopes of a lead vanished.
"Yes, disappointed in conceding the lead. Our well settled batters got out at the wrong time just before breaks and thus we could not cross the line. The wicket was helping the spinners a lot, but that is not an excuse as the well settled batters could have continued more for some time," said M Senthilnathan, coach of the TNCA President's XI after the day's play. "The game is still not over. They lost a wicket in their second essay today. Tomorrow we will go all out against them and give our best shot. The wicket is increasingly helping the spinners, we have two quality spinners in P Vidyuth and J Hemchudeshan, so let's see how it goes," added Senthilnathan.
Hyderabad coach Ravi Teja was a happy man. "Very happy with the way our boys bowled, in particular the spinners. Pleased to get the lead. They worked hard on a hot day and importantly gave us vital breakthroughs wherever we needed it the most. They did not relax a bit and kept working on how to break the hosts' batters' partnerships. So it was a very good team effort," complimented Ravi Teja. "I just told our spinners to keep it tight and keep looking for wickets. When some of the hosts' batters were batting well and looked settled, I asked my bowlers to not lose hope and keep trying by bowling better lengths and lines. I told them to be patient and work harder. Credit to them they got the 'big' wickets at the right time," said Ravi Teja.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 376 & 14/1 in 10 ovs vs TNCA President's XI 353 in 138.2 ovs (S Radhakrishnan 98, R Vimal Khumar 54, C Andre Siddarth 30, B Indrajith 50, G Ajitesh 57, Rohith Rayudu 3/96, Nitin Sai Yadav 3/55).