Beneath overcast skies and amidst loads of chirping from the Pondicherry fielders, southpaws Rahul Singh and Kodimela Himateja made hay as Hyderabad piled on 255 for one on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group-D match on the CAP Siechem Floor right here on Saturday.
Skipper Rahul and Himateja’s distinct temperaments complemented one another throughout their 167-run alliance for the second wicket, earlier than unhealthy gentle and a heavy downpour had the ultimate say with 20 overs remaining.
Rahul, batting with the quintessential aptitude and magnificence of a left-hander, reached his ton off 144 balls, with 11 fours and a six.
As an indication of issues to come back, Rahul had opened his account with a 4. Nonetheless, his innings ought to have ended quickly, when off-spinner Jayant Yadav had him caught at foolish level on 4 off a front-foot no-ball.
Rahul supplied few possibilities after that blip. He stepped out and lofted debutant off-spinner Karan Kannan for a 4 over cowl and took a toll on the 23-year-old after lunch by depositing him for a six down the bottom. When Kannan dropped it shorter, Rahul pulled him to midwicket and minimize him behind level for 2 fours.
Ranji Trophy spherical 2, Day 1 scores
Rahul didn’t spare seamer Puneet Datey both, driving him on the up after which slicing the ball by way of cowl—his most popular area. He added to his counterpart Sagar Udeshi’s frustration by reverse-sweeping the left-arm spinner to the fine-leg boundary. When Aman Khan tried to leverage his peak by using a short-ball barrage, Rahul insouciantly pulled the medium-pacer to the square-leg boundary.
Himateja took a cue from his skipper after trudging to 23 off 77 balls. He carted Jayant for 2 sixes in an over earlier than citing a 105-ball half-century.
Earlier, Tanmay Agarwal retired harm on 36 because of cramps and Abhirath Reddy was castled by one which stored low earlier than Rahul and Himateja took over.
Printed on Oct 25, 2025