Mission accomplished: Hyderabad won the Plate championship, defeating Meghalaya by five wickets in the final.
| Photo Credit: V.V. Subrahmanyam
There were no wild celebrations as has been the case right through this season by the Hyderabad cricketers. And, it was like a routine walk back to the dressing room by Chandan Sahani after he swung slow blower Aryan Bora over mid-on for a six to clinch a five-wicket win for the home team against Meghalaya on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group final at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Tuesday.
Resuming at 71 for one and needing 198 for victory, Hyderabad was rarely in a spot of bother with southpaw G. Rahul Singh (62, 40b, 8×4, 2×6) in a hurry not just to finish the match but also try to reach the three-figure mark, which he has done thrice this season. But he should be dejected for pulling one from pacer Chengkam Sangma straight to the fielder in the deep in the 12th over of the morning.
This saw the classy captain Tilak Varma (64, 50b, 6×4, 2×6) and the gritty Rohit Rayudu (34, 61b, 1×4, 2×6) come together and add 82 to dash whatever hopes Meghalaya had.
Tilak, looking good for another century this season, was caught in the slips off a leading edge by Meghalaya captain Kishan Lyngdoh off Raj Biswa with just seven needed for a victory.
Soon, Rayudu stepped out to loft, only to give a leading edge to backward short-leg fielder Jaskirant off left-arm spinner Aryan Bora.
Even on Tuesday, both Tilak and Rohit were involved in a couple of heated exchanges with the Meghalaya players, forcing the umpires to intervene.
Cash incentive
The HCA president A. Jagan Mohan Rao who gave away the prizes along with the Meghalaya Cricket Association officials, announced a cash incentive of ₹10 lakh for the Hyderabad team which one the Ranji Trophy Plate Group championship final.
He also announced ₹50,000 each to Player-of-the-Final Nitesh Reddy, left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan for his 10-wicket haul in the match, wicketkeeper batter Pragnay Reddy for his century, captain Tilak Varma.
The scores:
Meghalaya — 1st innings: 304.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: 350.
Meghalaya — 2nd innings: 243.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal b Chengkam 0, G. Rahul Singh c Akash b Chengkam 62, Tanay Thyagarajan c Bonchang b Chengkam 26, Tilak Varma c Kishan b Biswa 64, K. Rohit Rayudu c Jaskirat b Aryan 34, K. Nitesh Reddy (not out) 3, Chandan Sahani not out 8; Extras: (b-5, lb-1) 6; Total: (for five wickets in 34.2 overs): 203.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-88, 3-109, 4-191, 5-193.
Meghalaya bowling: Chengkam 7-0-47-3, Akash Kumar 9-0-52-0, Dippu 5-0-16-0, Aryan 2.2-0-13-1, Swarajeet 1-0-4-0, Biswa 7-0-49-1, Jaskirat 3-0-16-0.