Dharamsala: Robin Bist scored a career-best unbeaten 220 as Himachal Pradesh earned three points against Hyderabad from a Ranji Trophy Group ‘C’ match that reached farcical proportions on the final day, especially after the first hour when the hosts got the lead.
Starting the final day at 402 for 5 in reply to Hyderabad’s 434, Himachal Pradesh piled a mammoth 707 for 8 before declaring in the final hours. With the exception of Hyderabad wicketkeeper K. Sumanth, skipper G.H. Vihari pressed every player — including himself — into the attack but the visitors were unable to prevent Himachal from running away to a gargantuan total.
With 13 mandatory overs to be bowled, Hyderabad managed only 2 runs with openers T. Suman scoring 1 off 40 balls and Tanmay Agarwal scoring 1 off 38 balls before the captains shook hands.
Hyderabad’s determination was evident in the way both the openers dug their heels in and refused to score even when an opportunity seemed to present itself. They stuck it out till a draw was agreed upon.
Earlier in Himachal’s marathon innings, Bist’s brilliant 220 came off 343 balls with 23 fours and a massive six while Dhawan’s 114 off 145 balls contained 17 hits to the fence.
Scorecard
Hyderabad (1st innings): 434. Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): Ankush Bains c Anwar Khan b B. Sandeep 161, P. Chopra c T. Suman b C.V. Milind 51, Ankit Kalsi lbw b C.V. Milind 45, Paras Dogra c K. Sumanth b C.V. Milind 0, Robin Bist (not out) 220, Nikhil Gangta c Tanmay Agarwal b G.H. Vihari 1, Rishi Dhawan c Akshath Reddy b B. Sandeep 114, Bipul Sharma c Ashish Reddy b B. Sandeep 38, Shresth Nirmohi c Ashish Reddy b G.H. Vihari 48, Ronit More (not out) 15; Extras (b9, lb5) 14; Total (For eight wickets decl. in 195 overs) 707.
FoW: 1-115, 2-195, 3-195, 4-327, 5-328, 6-503, 7-592, 8-678.
Bowling: Sudeep Tyagi 33-1-149; Anwar Khan 30-13-41-0, C.V. Milind 39, Ashish Reddy 6-0-14-0, B. Sandeep 47-3-163-3, G.H. Vihari 12-2-50-2, T. Suman 11-0-42-0, Tanmay Agarwal 5-0-23-0, B. Anirudh 8-0-40-0, Akshath 4-0-10-0.
Hyderabad (2nd innings): T. Suman (not out) 1, Tanmay Agarwal (not out) 1; Total (For no loss in 13 overs) 2.
Bowling: P. Dogra 7-6-2-0; Nikhil Gangta 6-6-0-0.
