Siddhesh's ton rescues Mumbai vs Hyderabad in Ranji quarters

Riding on middle-order batsman Siddhesh Lad's (101 not out) unbeaten ton, Mumbai reached 250/5 at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final cricket clash against Hyderabad at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here on Friday.

At stumps, senior all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (46 not out) was at the crease with centurion Siddhesh.

Electing to bat after winning the toss, Mumbai were off to a pathetic start losing four quick wickets for a mere 34 on the board until Siddhesh and skipper Aditya Tare (73) forged a 105-run fifth wicket stand to get the side back on track.

For Hyderabad, pacer Chama Milind was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets while fellow medium pacer Mohammed Shiraj took two wickets.

The Mumbai batsmen found the going tough on a pitch which assisted some movement early on which the Hyderabad pacers capitalised by sending back the top four cheaply.

Mumbai's woes started from the 10th over when Milind accounted for opener Kevin Almeida (9) and one-down batsman Shreyas Iyer (0) in a span of two deliveries.

Suryakumar Yadav (5), who joined opener Praful Waghela (13) also failed to provide any kind of resistance and soon departed off the bowling of Siraj.

Reduced to 19/3, Mumbai skipper Tare walked into the middle but then Milind once again struck to break Waghela's 63-ball defence.

Waghela's dismissal brought in Siddhesh, who along with Tare stabilised the innings with some cautious batting to take Mumbai to 139.

However, Siraj once again brought Hyderabad back into the hunt by removing Tare after his 148-ball vigil, which contained 14 hits to the fence.

Nayar then joined Siddhesh, who was nearing his fourth first class ton and the duo used all their experience to put up an undefeated 111-run sixth wicket stand to take Mumbai to 250/5 at stumps.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 250/5 (Siddhesh Lad 101 not out, Aditya Tare 73, Abhishek Nayar 46 not out, Chama Milind 3/64) vs Hyderabad.

--IANS

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