Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra denied outright win by Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Bavanaka Sandeep and Ashish Reddy hit contrasting half centuries to deny Saurashtra an outright victory as Hyderabad grabbed a point from their drawn Ranji Trophy match on the fourth and final day here on Tuesday.

Sandeep (50 not out) and Reddy (56) stitched 84 runs for the sixth wicket after Hyderabad, chasing a target of 345 for a win, were reduced to 123 for five towards the tea break. Reddy was out midway in the final session but Sandeep held fort with the lower-order colleagues to save the match. He batted for nearly four hours and consumed 161 balls for his 50 and hit just three fours. Reddy, on the other hand, played an aggressive innings as he took just 60 balls for his 56 and hit five fours and three sixes at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal. Ibrahim Khaleel was the other not out batsman on 10 as the match was declared drawn after Hyderabad made 232 for six after 91 overs in the Group A match. For Saurashtra, Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets to add to his six in Hyderabad first innings to end the match with nine wickets. Earlier, Saurashtra declared their second innings at overnight score of 270 for six to give Hyderabad a target of 345 for a win. Saurashtra bagged three points from the drawn match by virtue of their 74-run first innings lead. Saurashtra are on six points from two matches while Hyderabad have just two points from two matches. Brief Scores: Saurashtra: 260 and 270/6 declared. Hyderabad: 186 and 232 for 6 in 91 overs (Bavanaka Sandeep 50 not out, Ashish Reddy 56; Ravindra Jadeja 3/84). PTI