Under fire for frequently throwing away his wicket, Balachander Anirudh responded in style with his maiden Ranji century in his 15th match to help Hyderabad force a draw against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy Group C at the KIIT Stadium here on Sunday.
Earlier, Hyderabad, resuming its first innings at 231 for seven, folded up for 281 after a breezy 58 by Mehdi Hasan (114b, 10 x 4) which in a way helped his team occupy the crease and consume valuable time.
Forced to follow-on, Hyderabad hopes of a better start were dashed when southpaw Tanmay Agarwal’s poor run continued when he failed to check his drive and ended up giving a return catch to off-spinner Jalaj Saxena in the sixth over of the innings.
Soon, a well-set Akshath Reddy offered a casual defensive jab without moving his feet to be bowled by left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla.
At 67 for two in 19th over, Kerala would have scented a probable outright win but 22-year-old Anirudh (120 not out, 192b, 14x4, 2x6) and captain S. Badrinath (39, 107b, 4 x 4) put on a match-saving 122-run stand.
Anirudh, who initially looked more comfortable against pacers, opened up against the spinners with ease. Once he had hit left-armer K. Monish for three fours in one over, he never really looked back.
Anirudh thrived in the company of his captain during a stand which put the nature of the pitch in proper perspective. A disciplined batting approach was needed and this was amply demonstrated by the tow.
Anirudh, who moved from 90 to 100 with a six and a four off Abdulla, celebrated in an animated manner as he knew the importance of the knock.
Kerala picked three points from this match, to have six from three matches, and Hyderabad one point to total seven.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: 517 for nine declared
Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal lbw b Sandeep Warrier 0, P. Akshath Reddy lbw b Sandeep Warrier 37, B. Anirudh lbw b Jalaj Saxena 30, S. Badrinath c Sanju b Jalaj Saxena 3, Bavanaka Sandeep c Thakkar b K. Monish 53, K. Sumanth b K. Monish 22, Akash Bhandari lbw b Iqbal Abdulla 40, Mehdi Hasan b K. Monish 58, Chama Milind c Samson b Basil Thampi 6, Ravi Kiran b Sandeep Warrier 0, Md. Siraj (not out) 9; Extras (nb-5, w-1, b-11, lb-6): 23; Total (in 97.3 overs): 281.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-59, 3-67, 4-82, 5-154, 6-175,7-212, 8-236, 9-251.
Kerala bowling: Sandeep Warrier 16-1-57-3, Basil Thampi 12-2-50-1, Jalaj Saxena 26-11-48-2, K. Monish 22.3-5-56-3, Iqbal Abdulla 18-1-50-1, Rohan Prem 3-1-3-0.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal c & b Jalaj Saxena 6, P. Akshath Reddy b Iqbal Abdulla 27, B. Anirudh (not out) 120, S. Badrinath lbw b K. Monish 39, B. Sandeep (not out) 11; Extras (b-12, lb-4, nb-1): 17; Total (for three wkts. in 69 overs): 220.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-67, 3-189.
Kerala bowling: Sandeep Warrier 6-0-21-0, Basil Thampi 7-0-25-0, Jalaj Saxena 18-3-41-1, K. Monish 22-6-67-1, Iqbal Abdulla 12.5-1-37-1, Rohan Prem 1.1-0-10-0, Bhavin Thakkar 2-0-3-0.
Match drawn .
Man-of-the-match: Iqbal Abdulla .
Points: Kerala 3, Hyderabad 1 .
