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Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006
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Hyderabad stays on top

Principal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: In spite of its insipid batting in the second knock, Hyderabad managed to stay on top, by virtue of its sizeable first innings lead of 205 against Tripura on the second day of the three-day quarterfinal of the all-India Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup invitation cricket tournament at the Gymkhana Grounds here on Monday.

Tripura, in reply to the host's' first innings score of 328 for seven in 90 overs, was restricted to 123 for nine in 46 overs with the injured Jayanta Debnath unable to bat. For Hyderabad, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (four for 32) exploited the rough patches at the pavilion end with his accurate line and length.

He was given good support from the other end by another left-arm spinner Indersekhar Reddy (three for 36) after medium-pacer Kaushik Reddy struck two early blows.

With Tripura's innings coming to an end 20 minutes after lunch, a run-feast was expected from the experienced Hyderabad line-up. But, that was not to be as captain and Test star V.V.S. Laxman, who was not on the field when Tripura batted due to a hamstring pull, did not even bat in the second innings.

Frailties to the fore

And the frailties of Hyderabad batting top-order came to the fore again in the face of accurate bowling. A combination of rash strokes and lack of discipline from T. Suman, Sashank Nag, A.T. Rayudu and N. Arjun Yadav was the reason for the dismal show which saw Hyderabad struggling at 76 for seven at one stage before wicketkeeper batsman Ibrahim Khaleel (40 not out, 62 balls) lent some respectability. Hyderabad ended up with 115 for eight in 40 overs, setting an improbable target of 321 in 40 overs. For Tripura, left-arm spinner Tushar Saha (three for 41) bowled well.

In another match at NFC Ground, a century by southpaw S. Sharath (115, 188 balls, 13x4, 1x6) helped India Cements score 247 in 85.1 overs against TNCA Colts' first innings score of 290. In the second innings, TNCA Colts was struggling at 78 for six in 20.5 overs.

The scores (second day):

At Gymkhana: Hyderabad 328 for seven in 90 overs and 115 for eight in 40 overs (Ibrahim Khaleel 40 not out) vs Tripura 123 for nine in 46 overs (Pragyan Ojha four for 32) and nine for no loss in two overs.

At Uppal Stadium: Karnataka 201 vs Chemplast 336 in 83.2 overs (Ram Kumar 74, Satish 60).

At NFC: TNCA Colts 290 and 78 for six in 20.5 overs vs India Cements 247 in 85.1 overs (S. Sharath 115, J. Harish 44).

At RRC-I: Mumbai 202 and 90 for no loss in 17 overs (Rohit Sharma 50 batting) vs Railways 223 in 87.5 overs (Salvi 52, Rahul Deb 49 not out, Karan Sharma 41, Rajesh Verma five for 47).

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