Siraj denies Punjab full points in spirited run-chase led by Shubman Gill's 148

Ranji Trophy: Punjab needed 14 runs and Hyderabad required 2 wickets. In the end, neither of them were able to achieve their goals and the march ended up as in a draw. Hyderabad walked away with three points because of taking the first innings lead.

For the better part of the day it was only about personal milestones. What more could have been expected from a match which was approaching towards a draw right from day three. But a 19-year-old’s skill equally matched by an opposition medium pacer’s guile turned the Punjab-Hyderabad dull Ranji Trophy affair into a thriller. All four results were possible even as Mohammad Siraj was running in to bowl the last over of the match. Punjab needed 14 runs and Hyderabad required 2 wickets. In the end, neither of them were able to achieve their goals and the march ended up as in a draw. Hyderabad walked away with three points because of taking the first innings lead.

Set a target of 338 in 57 overs, Punjab went all out for an outright win with Shubman Gill leading the charge with some breathtaking display of strokeplay. Gill smashed 148 off just 154 balls and whilst he was there in the crease, Punjab were firm favourites to knock the fifth highest fourth innings target of Ranji Trophy. But it was a late burst from Siraj that saw him pick up four wickets in as many overs including the important one of Gill to peg Punjab back, forcing them to play for a draw in the final two overs of the match.

Opening the batting, Gill and Jiwanjot Singh set-up the perfect platform for Punjab, forging a 67-run stand in 14 overs before Jiwanjot was dismissed for 29. Surely, an outright win would not have crossed the Punjab team management’s mind then. But when they went to tea at 158 for 1 in 28 overs, the hopes started to rise. That’s when Gill really started to cut loose. It was not that his scoring rate increased rapidly – he had reached his fifty off 61 balls before the tea-break itself – but he started to take more risks. He danced down the track to the Hyderabad seamers, swept their best spinner Mehidy Hasan and even used the lofted extra cover scoop to perfection against Ravi Teja, hitting 16 fours and 2 sixes.

Shubman Gill continues to impress. Another 100 from this young player from Punjab #RanjiTrophy @BCCIdomestic @RealShubmanGill #PUNvHYD @StarSportsIndia pic.twitter.com/QmRAJ63o7z

— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) December 25, 2018

It was one of those attempted extra-cover scoops that brought about his downfall though. The bowler, however, was different. It was Siraj, who is a few notches quicker than Teja and certainly has a better skill-set and experience to handle such situations. Gill ended up slicing the lofted drive and was holed out at cover, Akshat Reddy took a brilliant diving catch.

Siraj had done his job. Before getting the prized scalp of Gill, he had already removed Punjab captain Mandeep Singh (41 off 42) in the previous over. Whatever hope Punjab had, Siraj killed it in his next over by finding the outside edge of Gony’s bat (23 off 15).

Siraj ended up with figures of 4 for 71 and his last overs yielded only 1 run when all others were going at more than 7 runs an over.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 317 (A Reddy 77) & 323/3 dcl. (A Reddy 161) against Punjab 303 (Gurkeerat 87) & 324/8 (Gill 148). 

Points: Hyderabad 3, Punjab 1