Left-hander Balchander Anirudh struck a sublime 120 not out, his maiden first-class hundred, to lead Hyderabad's rescue act and force a draw against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Group C cricket match at the KIIT Cricket Stadium today.
The 22-year-old lefthander hit two sixes and 14 fours in his fluent knock from 192 balls as Hyderabad replied strongly with 220 for three in their second innings after they were forced to followed-on.
Kerala bagged three points on basis of their first innings lead to be on six points, one behind Hyderabad.
Earlier on the day, in reply to Kerala's 517 for nine declared, Hyderabad were dismissed with an addition of 50 to their overnight total to concede a huge 236 first innings deficit.
Following-on, Hyderabad lost both their openers for 67 but Anirudh stayed on and denied Kerala an innings victory.
Kerala used as many as seven bowlers but none could break the defence of Anirudh as he carried his bat through the day to salvage a point for Hyderabad.
Brief scores:
Kerala: 517/9 decl
Hyderabad: 281 (Mehdi Hasan 58, Akash Bhandari 40; Sandeep Warrier 3/57, K Monish 3/56) & 220/3 in 69 overs (Balchander Anirudh 120 not out).
Points: Kerala 3, Hyderabad 1.
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