Hyderabad: Delhi grabbed control of their Ranji Trophy 2025 Group D opening against Hyderabad on Friday, with skipper Ayush Badoni bowling an amazing spell of off-spin that gave him career-best figures of 5/69. He took the important wicket of Hyderabad captain Tilak Varma, which helped Delhi get a big lead in the first innings after the third day of play.
Hyderabad ended Day 3 at 400/7, remaining 130 runs shy of the lead, after Delhi declared at 529/4. The Next-Gen Ground pitch still helped batsmen, but now Hyderabad needs Rahul Radesh (41)* and the tail to keep their innings going.
Tanmay Agarwal and Anikethreddy help Hyderabad fight back
The hitters for Hyderabad had a good day, scoring 323 runs in total. Tanmay Agarwal, the senior opener, led the way with a smooth 132 off 198 balls (15 fours). He and Gangam Anikethreddy (87) put together a 140-run stand for the second wicket.
The hosts seemed like they were in charge at 205/1, but Badoni changed the game. The Delhi captain utilized drift and turn expertly to take advantage of Hyderabad’s left-handed lineup. He got Anikethreddy out of the crease for a stumping and trapped Tilak Varma right in front with a flighted delivery.
Badoni subsequently said, “Seven of the top eight Hyderabad batters were left-handed, which helped me use angles well.”
Agarwal scored 57 runs with Kodimela Himateja and 65 runs with Radesh, but Delhi stayed ahead by taking regular wickets. Badoni also got Himateja out leg-before, while Arpit Rana got Agarwal out to end a great day for Delhi.
Jammu and Kashmir Push for a historic win over Mumbai
In another Group D game, Auqib Nabi took five wickets (5/52), bringing Jammu and Kashmir close to a historic triumph over Mumbai in Srinagar.
J&K needed 222 runs on the last day to win, and they got to 21/1 at the end of Day 3. Earlier, Mumbai fell apart for 181 runs in 56.5 overs, even though they had a 61-run advantage in the first innings.
Shams Mulani (41) and Akash Anand (31) put up a fight with a 50-run stand, but the remainder of Mumbai’s batting fell apart as Nabi and Abid Mushtaq (2 wickets) bowled with discipline. Ajinkya Rahane (0), Musheer Khan (8), and Sarfaraz Khan (32) all fell.
Paras Dogra (144) was the best player for J&K in their first innings, leading them to 325 and keeping the match evenly balanced going into the last day.