Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Hyderabad fashions innings victory against Himachal in Elite Group B clash

Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Hyderabad fashions innings victory against Himachal in Elite Group B clash

The left-arm spin duo of Tanay Thyagarajan (six for 118) and Gangam Anikethreddy (four for 46) bowled in tandem and thrived on Himachal Pradesh batters’ irresponsible approach to fashion an impressive innings and 43-run win in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

Resuming at the overnight score of 33 for no loss after being forced to follow on, Himachal opener Shubham Arora (66, 72b, 10×4, 1×6) and Innesh Mahajan (25, 22b, 3×4, 1×6) showed intent, blending a mix of caution with aggression in the first one hour of the morning session. This was after Thyagarajan dismissed Prashant Chopra (14) thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Varun Goud, who went for an ambitious drive on the off-side.

However, once Majahan went for the sweep off a length ball from Aikethreddy only to be trapped lbw, the Himachal innings lost direction, and Apporav Walia and Akash Vashist were themselves to blame for throwing their wickets away.

Himachal paid a heavy price for its batters’ T20I approach when a draw was crucial for the team to stay in contention for a knock-out berth.

From Hyderabad’s perspective, it was a remarkable effort by Thyagarajan and Anikethreddy, who picked the third five-wicket haul in his sixth match.

Though No. 10 Vaibhav Arora meted out some rough treatment to Thyagarajan, hitting him for three sixes during his knock (32, 22b, 2×4, 3×6), it was obvious he was only delaying the inevitable as he was eventually bowled out by the same bowler to signal celebrations in the home team camp.

Hyderabad has 16 points and is fourth in Group B, while Himachal has 21 points from six games, with both teams having one more game to play.