Captain Tilak Varma scored his second century in as many games this season and the bowlers struck at regular intervals to help Hyderabad drub Sikkim by an innings and 198 runs on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate Group League match at NexGen Cricket Academy Ground here on Saturday.
For the third consecutive match this season, Hyderabad showed its dominance in the Plate Group wrapping up the contest inside two days.
The defeat for Sikkim was delayed not because of any special performance by the batters but the declaration of Hyderabad innings was delayed to help Tilak complete a deserving hundred which he eventually did by lofting Palzor Tamang for a straight six.
Tilak (103 n.o., 111b, 8×4, 4×6), who was more subdued this morning, and the more aggressive Chandan Sahani (54, 56b, 6×4, 2×6) put up 88 runs for the fourth wicket which only pushed Sikkim on the defensive.
And, when Sikkim batted second time, the question was how better the batters would fare. But, they disappointed once again. Pacer Karthikeya Kak, the pick of the bowlers with the new ball, forced opener Pankaj Rawat (13) to snick to wicketkeeper Pragnay Reddy. He soon sent back the other main batter Ashish Thapa (0) in similar fashion.
Off-spinner Saaketh bowled well to take two wickets and left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan began well with a double blow in the 32nd over to remove the dangerous Sumit Singh and Saurav Kumar Prasad.
But, Tanay turned out to be the most expensive bowler. In the spell before tea, he was hit for 10 fours and three sixes.
However, in the final session, it was Milind who broke the 57-run stand between Palzor (32, 65b, 5×4, 1×6) and Ankur Malik (34, 23b, 5×4, 2×6). The pacer struck two crucial blows. as the match ended on the second day itself.
The scores:
Sikkim — 1st innings: 79.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Nilesh b Lepcha 137, Rahul Singh c Arun b Ankur 83, K. Rohit Rayudu c & b Ankur 75, Tilak Varma (not out) 103, Chandan Sahani b Sumit 54, Pragnay Reddy (not out) 1; Extras (b-5, lb-4, w-1): 10; Total (for four wkts. decl. in 78.1 overs): 463.
Fall of wickets: 1-132, 2-270, 3-359, 4-447.
Sikkim bowling: Palzon 14.1-1-85-0, Sumit 13-1-66-1, Lepcha 19-0-110-1, Saptula 13-1-96-0, Ankur 18-0-87-2, Saurav 1-0-10-0.
Sikkim — 2nd innings: Pankaj Kumar Rawat c Pragnay b Kartikeya 13, Arun Chettro lbw b Saaketh 9, Ashish Thapa c Pragnay b Kartikeya 0, Nilesh Lamichaney c Tanay b Saaketh 28, Sumit Singh c Tanmay b Tanay 34, Palzor Tamang c Rahul b Tanay 32, Saurav Kumar Prasad c Pragnay b Tanay 0, Ankur Malik c Pragnay b Milind 34, Lee Lepcha b Milind 1, Rahul Tamang (not out) 11, Md. Saptula c Pragnay b Milind 9; Extras (lb-14, nb-1): 15; Total (in 48.3 overs): 186.
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-31, 3-31, 4-77, 5-106, 6-106, 7-163, 8-165, 9-169.
Hyderabad bowling: Milind 8.3-3-14-3, Ravi Teja 8-2-21-0, Saaketh 12-2-52-2, Kartikeya 7-4-10-2, Tanay 13-1-75-3.
Hyderabad won by an innings and 198 runs.