Opener Tanmay Agarwal cracked a record-breaking maiden triple century (323 batting, 160b, 33x4, 21x6) and with his captain Rahul Singh (185, 105b, 26x4, 3x6) helped Hyderabad post an imposing 529 for one in the first innings in reply to Arunachal Pradesh’s 172 on the first day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate Group league match at NexGen Cricket Academy Ground here on Friday.
Tanmay’s triple century was the fastest, coming off 147 balls. He also eclipsed Ravi Shastri’s record of the quickest double century in Ranji Trophy — Shastri took 123 balls while Tanmay reached the landmark in 119 balls.
It was Tanmay’s 12th Ranji century and career-best score in his 56th match. On the other hand, Rahul recorded his second century of the season, after a double in the opener.
Earlier, put in to bat, Arunachal folded up for 172. It could have been a more disappointing show but for the defiance of opener Techi Doria (97 n.o., 127b, 12x4, 3x6), who had the rare distinction of carrying his bat and unfortunately missed a deserving century.
Milind strikes
Left-arm pacer Chama Milind struck in the first over, sending back opener and captain Neelam Obi and Ahishek Minnal of the third and fourth deliveries of the innings.
The other pacer Karthikeya Kak soon struck — first dismissing Aprameya Jaiswal in the fourth over and getting rid of Indiya Toku in his next to reduce Arunachal to 21 for four.
Left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan removed wicketkeeper-batter Techi Sonam (16) and Nabal Tempol in quick succession, which saw Arunachal reduced to 148 for eight.
The scores:
Arunachal Pradesh — 1st innings: Neelam Obi b Milind 4, Techi Doria (not out) 97, Abhishek Minnal lbw b Milind 0, Aprameya Jaiswal b Karthikaya 8, Indiya Toku c Nitish b Karthikeya 0, Divyanshu Yadav c Sagar b Sanketh 29, Techi Sonam c Abhirath b Tanay 16, Nabam Tempol c Rahul b Tanay 7, Desai Virenkumar b Saaketh 4, Pampana lbw b Milind 4, Santu Kumar b Karthikeya 0, Extras (nb-3); 3; Total (in 39.4 overs): 172.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-4, 3-13, 4-21, 5-66, 6-104, 7-122, 8-127, 9-156.
Hyderabad bowling: Milind 9-2-36-3, Karthikeya 8.4-1-28-3, Sanketh 5-0-24-1, Tanay 11-1-53-2, Saaketh 6-0-31-1.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal (batting) 323, G. Rahul Singh c Yadav b Doria 185, Abhirath Reddy (batting) 19; Extras (w-1, nb-1): 2; Total (for one wkt. in 48 overs): 529.
Fall of wickets: 1-449.
Arunachal Pradesh bowling: Tempol 8-0-83-0, Virenkumar 8-1-68-0, Divyanshu 9-0-117-0, Doria 9-0-101-1, Jaiwal 6-0-78-0, Santu 4-0-32-0, Pampana 1-0-16-0, Toku 3-0-34-0.
