When a player of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s stature calls your technique and talent special, the weight of it follows you onto the field.
K. Himateja carried it to Mulapadu on Tuesday and set it down gently on the scoreboard with his third First Class hundred in Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy clash with Andhra at the ACA Stadium.
The morning belonged to Andhra.
T. Vijay found a gap in Tanmay Agarwal’s defence and sent the stumps cartwheeling, and the opener trudged back one run shy of a half-century.
The home side leaned into the wind on offer, its ploy to run in with pace from one end paying off. Pragnay Reddy fell to give K. Sai Teja his third wicket of the innings. Rahul Radesh followed soon after, undone by an acrobatic effort from Hemanth Reddy at mid-off.
Andhra's Saiteja celebrates the wicket of Hyderabad's Rahul Radesh. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
Himateja and Ruthik Yadav then steadied Hyderabad’s wobble with a 198-ball 99-run stand, the former reaching his fifty just after lunch. Shortly after the visitor touched the 200 mark, Ricky Bhui pouched a sharp catch in the slips to end Ruthik’s resistance.
Andhra's Ricky Bhui takes a catch to dismiss Hyderabad's Ruthvik Yadav. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
There was a sprinkling of drama too. Andhra resumed with 12 men on the field after drinks. Later, a dog ran onto the ground and ran a full lap before making its way out.
Himateja took 192 balls to reach his ton, with even Vijay walking over to pat him on the back for his grit. All along, Tanay Thyagarajann at the other end ensured nothing disrupted that pursuit. He broke free once the milestone was secured, reaching his own half-century in 64 balls. Hyderabad declared at 306 for seven.
Hyderabad's Tanay Thyagarajann plays a shot. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
Andhra, set 398 to win, barely had time to settle. Aniketh Reddy sent Abhishek Reddy back, Mohammed Siraj jumping to pluck a reflex catch at cover. Shaik Rasheed was sent back in Aniketh’s next.
The light faded before Andhra’s nerves could and stumps came early, with the host needing 391 runs for victory.
The scores: Hyderabad — 1st innings: 275.
Andhra — 1st innings: Hemanth Reddy st. Pragnay b Tanay 10, Abhishek Reddy b Siraj 5, Shaik Rasheed lbw b Tanay 61, Ricky Bhui run out 28, S.V. Rahul lbw b Aniketh 27, Revanth Reddy b Tanay 12, K.V. Sasikanth lbw b Tanay 14, Saurabh Kumar b Tanay 1, T. Vijay (not out) 25, Lalith Mohan b Aniketh 0, K. Sai Teja run out 0; Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (in 63 overs): 184.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-32, 3-91, 4-112, 5-128, 6-148, 7-149, 8-164, 9-165.
Hyderabad bowling: Tanay 20-4-63-5, Aniketh 18-1-60-2, Siraj 11-2-31-1, Milind 7-1-13-0, Ruthik 7-0-17-0.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal b Vijay 49, Abhirath Reddy lbw b Sai Teja 23, Rahul Singh lbw b Sai Teja 2, K. Himateja (not out) 123, Pragnay Reddy c Hemanth b Sai Teja 5, Rahul Radesh c Hemanth b Sai Teja 6, Ruthik Yadav c Bhui b Vijay 31, C.V. Milind lbw b Sasikanth 4, Tanay Thyagarajann (not out) 53; Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-1): 10; Total (for seven wkts. decl. in 95.3 overs): 306.
Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-78, 3-78, 4-87, 5-101, 6-200, 7-213.
Andhra bowling: Saurabh 21-3-71-0, Vijay 35-5-119-2, Lalith 7-0-22-0, Sai Teja 16.3-4-40-4, K.V. Sasikanth 16-4-45-1.
Andhra — 2nd innings: Hemanth Reddy (batting) 3, Abhishek Reddy c Siraj b Aniketh 1, Shaik Rasheed c Tanmay b Aniketh 1, Ricky Bhui (batting) 2; Total (for two wkts. in four overs): 7.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-4.
Hyderabad bowling: Tanay 2-0-4-0, Aniketh 2-0-3-2.