Maharashtra take 15 Hyd wkts in a day to win on Day 3, but miss bonus point

Pune: Thursday was all about redemption for Maharashtra. The hosts, who took only five wickets on Wednesday, took 15 on the third day to win their Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad in Gahunje.
Maharashtra defeated Hyderabad by 9 wickets as they chased a meagre target of 27 runs after enforcing follow-on. The only sour point was that they missed the bonus point, losing Ruturaj Gaikwad on the first ball.
Taranjitsingh Dhillon (30 off 15) then ‘farmed’ the strike to score all the runs as other opener Sourabh Nawale played just one ball.Hyderabad, overnight 176-5, were taken by surprise as they faced a vastly-improved Maharashtra attack.
The visitors could play only 11.3 overs in the morning session and folded out adding just 16 runs.
“We did a lot of over-thinking yesterday. After the day’s play, we discussed our mistakes and decided to stick to basics instead of trying to do something extra. I think sometimes you just need to do that,” said Maharashtra skipper Ankeet Bawane about forcing the decisive result.
The difference was stark: Maharashtra took five wickets in 5 hours 19 minutes on Wednesday and then took 15 scalps in 5 hours 15 minutes on Thursday.
Pacer Ashay Palkar, who was wicketless on Wednesday, claimed three of the five Hyderabad wickets that fell in the first hour while his pace partner Pradeep Dadhe added one to his two. Offie Taranjitsingh Dhillon took one to force a follow-on on Hyderabad.
Despite their skipper and left-handed opener Tanmay Agarwal scoring a quick 43 off 49 balls (7x4s, 1x6s), Hyderabad’s second innings was nothing more than a steady collapse. While Dadhe started the fall by cartwheeling opener Rahul Radesh’s off-stump, Dhillon lured Agarwal for a paddle sweep. Kedar Jadhav took a sharp, low catch at leg slip. Rajvardhan Hangargekar joined the party and took three wickets (3-83), as did left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav (3-32).
An 85-run stand between Chandan Sahani (59) and Rohit Rayudu (37) halted the free-fall after lunch, but only for a while. A quick good-length delivery by Palkar knocked Rayudu’s bails.
From 161-5 after Rayudu’s fall, Hyderabad were soon 187-9, courtesy of Bachhav. A wicket inside six runs at the point could have fetched Maharashtra a bonus point.
But Maharashtra gave away 32 runs as tailenders Rakshann (20) and Bhuvangagiri Punnaiah (8) made the hosts bat again.
Maharashtra still had a chance to get the bonus point. However, a supern delivery by Kartikeya Kak forced Ruturaj Gaikwad to play and edge it to third slip. Chandan Sahani dived to his left, grabbing the the ball with both hands and sending Gaikwad back.
Mahrashtra (25 points) face Mumbai in the last league game — a potential decider for the knockout berth.