Buchi Babu Trophy 2025: Hyderabad poised to defend title after securing first-innings lead against TNCA President’s XI

Varun Goud leapt in joy, thumped the pitch with his hands, and sprinted towards his teammates after trapping G. Ajitesh (57 off 90 balls) leg before on the last ball before Tea. It was a crucial breakthrough for Hyderabad, as TNCA President’s XI looked poised to secure a first-innings lead in the Buchi Babu Trophy final at the CSK-HPC ground in Chennai.

At the interval, the host still needed 49 runs with four wickets in hand, and M. Vishal (14 off 67), who had played second fiddle in a 46-run stand with Ajitesh, remained at the crease.

In the final session, Nitin Sai Yadav dismissed P. Vidyuth at midwicket, after which Vishal and Trilok Nag tried to steady things by rotating the strike. But the pressure kept mounting. Both Nitin Sai and Goud repeatedly threatened the outside edge, and one such delivery finally trapped Vishal in front. Nitin Sai charged away in celebration as Hyderabad tightened its grip.

From there, the last two wickets tumbled quickly, leaving the host 23 runs short and Hyderabad, with one hand firmly on the trophy, is defending.

With 40 minutes still left, TNCA came out with a purpose. In the very first over, Vidyuth got P. Nitish Reddy leg before, and was given a send-off. Aman Rao and Ravi Teja, however, navigated through a fiery 10-over spell and walked back with a 37-run advantage.

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The day had begun with the home side well-placed: nine wickets intact and openers S. Radhakrishnan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul settled. With 234 runs still left, the pair steadily worked their way towards Hyderabad’s 376 without taking risks.

But Pradosh missed a sweep against Rohit Rayudu and was trapped leg before, before Rayudu struck again in the very next over to remove Radhakrishnan, agonisingly two short of his century after a 238-ball grind.

Those successive blows brought Hyderabad back into the contest, though C. Andre Siddharth and Baba Indrajith revived TNCA with a 54-run partnership. Just before Lunch, however, Andre miscued an upper cut off pacer S. Nishanth and was caught in the deep. Indrajith followed soon after the break, ushering Ajitesh and Vishal to the middle.

Aniketh Reddy and Rayudu then operated in tandem. While Aniketh consistently beat the bat with a sharp turn, Rayudu’s line into the right-handers released the pressure. Ajitesh capitalised, pulling the short balls and driving the overpitched ones to the boundary.

Sensing the need for a change, Hyderabad captain Rahul Singh turned to leg-spinner Goud — and the move paid off instantly. Goud pushed one through quicker, trapping Ajitesh and sparking Hyderabad’s decisive surge.

Published on Sep 08, 2025