Hyderabad tighten noose on champions

Let down by their fielders and bowlers, it was left to the champions’ batsmen to try and save them from being dethroned on home soil. But the batsmen were always fighting the pressure imposed by the mammoth total.

The Hyderabad spinners were amply aided by the timely strikes of the left-arm medium-pacer Fiaz Ahmed.

The second new ball taken after the first 20 minutes of play this morning, did the trick for Hyderabad.

Overnight 269 for two, Vijay Bharadwaj and Rowland Barrington carried on in the same manner till the new cherry separated them.

Fiaz Ahmed, who was wayward on the third day, bowled on both sides of the wicket with seemingly little control on Friday too. But on one occasion he caught the edge of Barrington’s bat and that was all skipper Mohammed Azharuddin asked for. Azharuddin, stationed at second slip, flung himself low to the left to pluck out an excellent one-handed catch to break the 112-run third wicket stand.

A little later, Thilak Naidu was surprised by a short-pitched delivery in line with his leg stump. He warded it off his ribs, but was caught down the leg side by the wicket-keeper. These two wickets by Fiaz Ahmed swung the match Hyderabad’s way.

After this, although, Vijay Bharadwaj (90; 197 balls, 10 fours); Akhil (32), Sunil Joshi (72; 93 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes) and Dodda Ganesh (51 batting, 77 balls, 8 fours) all came up with useful partnerships, Karnataka were always fighting a losing battle.

Heavy overnight rains which slowed the outfield considerably this morning, also helped check the flow of runs. Rains once again came down late in the evening. But by then Hyderabad had a definite control of the match. Even in run-rate they are ahead of Karnataka (3.68 to 3.42). Only the last rites and a decent burial need to be performed on the morrow.

Fiaz Ahmed’s three wickets were the most crucial strikes for Hyderabad. Venkatpathy Raju and Kanwaljit Singh also scalped three apiece to complete a fine team effort.

SCOREBOARD

Hyderabad (1st innings) 711 for 8 decl.

Karnataka (1st innings): J Arun Kumar c Nandakishore b Kanwaljit 71, Mithun Beerala c Azharuddin b Kanwaljit 74, Rowland Barrington c Azhar b Fiaz 65, Vijay Bharadwaj c & b Raju 90, Thilak Naidu c Shaikh b Fiaz 3, A Vijay c Shaik b Raju 4, B Akhil c Nandakishore b Raju 32, Sunil Joshi lbw Fiaz 72, Dodda Ganesh batting 51, Venkatesh Prasad c Azhar b Kanwaljit 7,Mansoor Ali Khan batting 0. Extras: (b5, lb12, nb34, w3) 54. Total (for 9 wickets, in 153.1 overs, 640 mins) 523

Fall of wickets: 1-163, 2-190, 3-302, 4-311, 5-336, 6-370, 7-421, 8-491, 9-508

Bowling: Narendra Pal Singh 19-2-84-0 (nb12), Fiaz Ahmed 21-1-114-3 (nb15, w2), Raju 54-15-127-3, Satwalkar 13-2-38-0 (nb4, w1), Kanwaljit 43.1-4-127-3 (nb1), Azharuddin 3-0-16-0 (nb2)