Hyderabad pull off remarkable victory

Spinners Venkatpathi Raju and Kanwaljit Singh bowled Hyderabad to a remarkable 92-run victory over Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Green Park in Kanpur on Monday.

It was a magnificent win for Hyderabad who were behind by 71 runs on the first innings. A superb effort in the second innings, spearheaded by VVS Laxman who scored his sixth century this season in the national competition, gave Hyderabad a chance to come back. But when UP resumed this morning at 38 for no loss chasing a victory target of 311, the home team did seem to have the better chance of qualifying for the penultimate round. After all they had already secured the first innings lead. This feeling gathered momentum when UP were 104 for one and in mid afternoon, 163 for three. But then there was an amazing turnabout and the last seven wickets fell for the addition of 55 runs. UP were all out for 218 with six overs to spare.

UP suffered an early blow when Jyoti Yadav was bowled by Kanwaljit Singh for 18 with the total on 43. But the other opener M Saif and Md Kaif came together in a second wicket partnership which realized 61 runs off 24.2 overs. Saif then fell to Raju for 57. He batted a trifle over three hours, faced 162 balls and hit seven fours. In the same over, Raju dismissed R Shamshad for nought.

Shortly before lunch, Kaif reached his half century. At the interval, UP were 119 for three. Kaif and Saurabh Shukla then seemed to have carried UP to safety by adding 59 runs off 25.3 overs. However at 163, Shukla was caught by wicketkeeper Sheikh off Raju for 27. He batted an hour and a half, faced 68 balls and hit four boundaries. Another crucial wicket was taken in the same over with skipper Gyanendra Pandey being held by Nandakishore for a duck.

Now UP were under siege. Raju and Kanwaljit wove patterns around the batsmen, trapping them in their web of spin. Kaif continued to play confidently but the wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. Finally Kaif, UP's last bastion of strength, was ninth out at 213, held by Nandakishore off Kanwaljit Singh. The India batsmen had batted courageously for 282 minutes, faced 229 balls and hit seven fours. Satwalkar ended the match having last man Sriwatsava caught by Sheikh and Hyderabad's triumph was complete. Raju took six for 57 off 37 overs while Kanwaljit had three for 78 to finish with match figures of nine for 175.

Hyderabad now play reigning champions Karnataka in the semifinal.