Hyderabad: Off-spinner K. Bhagath Varma hogged the limelight on the first day of the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s 2017-18 league season on Wednesday by snaring six wickets against Andhra Bank.
Vamshi Vardhan Reddy was the other top performer. He was unfortunate to be stranded on 99 though as he ran out of partners in another top division three-day match.
R. Dayanand’s Bhagath began brilliantly, causing much trouble to the Bankmen as he kept chipping the wickets away. His 6 for 124 meant Andhra Bank made 372 for 9 in 90 overs while batting first. Bhagath sent down 27 overs of which six were maiden.
Andhra Bank’s total was built on half-centuries by Ronald Rodrigues (72), Abhinav Kumar (79) and Neeraj Bist (68).
In another match, Vamshi of Income Tax was poised for a coveted century against EMCC when he kept losing partners at the other end. Eventually, the batsman remained not out on an agonising 99 that came off 131 balls, 12 of which were despatched to the fence and one over it.
The Taxmen were bowled out for 240 as Rajmani Prasad and Ajay Dev Goud picked four and three wickets respectively for EMCC.
Brief scores:
Three-day league
Pool A, Day 1:
n Andhra Bank 372/9 in 90 overs (Ronald Rodrigues 72, Abhinav Kumar 79, T. Ravi Teja 30, Neeraj Bist 68, N. S. Arjun Yadav 37, K. Bhagath Varma 6/124 — 27-6-124-6, A. Lalith Mohan 3/125) vs R. Dayanand.
n Income Tax 240 in 57 overs (P. Akshath Reddy 33, Vamshi Vardhan Reddy 99 n.o. — 131b, 12x4, 1x6, Rajamani Prasad 4/55, Ajay Dev Goud 3/66) vs EMCC.
n BDL vs Jai Hanuman (Day 1 washed out).
Pool B, Day 1:
n India Cements 163/7 in 75 overs (M.S.R. Charan 42, H.K. Simha 46, Sreekanth N. 31, Yashwanth Reddy 3/18) vs Hyderabad Bottling.
n AOC vs Continental (Day 1 washed out).
n Gemini Friends vs Evergreen (Day 1 washed out).
