A five wicket haul by Kaushik Reddy and fiery spell by Indra Sekhar Reddy (4/28) demolished the batting line up of Services, who were bundled out for 196 against hosts Hyderabad on the opening day of the Elite group 'B' Ranji Trophy match at Gymkhana grounds in Hyderabad on Sunday.

- Ranji Trophy 2005-06: Complete coverage

Put in to bat, Services began on a disastrous note, with Kaushik sending opener Sumit Tomer (4) back to pavilion with the team score reading just seven.

PMS Reddy and Jasvir Singh (25) tried to stabilise the innings with a cautious approach by adding 46 runs for the second wicket before the latter fell to a good catch by Daniel Manohar to give young Alfred Absolom his first Ranji wicket.

Skipper VVS Laxman held to an edge of PMS Reddy (16) in the slip taking Kaushik's tally to two but Yashpal Singh had put a defiant stand scoring 31 with five fours before he edged a sharp delivery of Kaushik Reddy into the wicketkeeper Ibrahim Kaleel's safe hands.

Reeling at 97 for 5 at lunch, the visitors slowly recovered with all-rounders, AK Mohenty and Arun Sharma scoring useful runs and prolonging the game.

AK Mohenty, who had a good season so far, played a patient knock of 36 facing 119 balls while tail ender Arun Sharma scored a breezy 40 off 79 balls with five hits to the fence.

Indra Sekhar Reddy accounted for the middle and lower order claiming four wickets.

Hosts, in reply were 43 for one when stumps were drawn. Manohar (28) and Anirudh Singh (5) were at the crease while Hari Prasad claimed the wicket of opener Sashank Nag.

Scorecard:

Services 1st Innings:
Sumit Tomer     c Ibrahim       b Kaushik Reddy    4
PMS Reddy       c VVS Laxman    b Kaushik Reddy   25
Jasvir Singh    c Daniel Manoharb Alfred Absolom  16
Yashpal Singh   c Ibrahim       b Kaushik Reddy   31
Sarabjit Singh  c Ibrahim       b Kaushik Reddy    0
Krishna Chawda                  b IS Reddy         6
AK Mohenty      c Daniel        b IS Reddy        36
Amrinder singh  c Ibrahim       b Kaushik Reddy    0
Arun Sharma     c Ibrahim       b IS Reddy        40
Fazil Mohammad  LBW             b IS Reddy         0
Hari Prasad     not out                            2
Extras (b-15,lb-4, nb-15, w-2)                    36
Total (all out in 71.1 overs)                    196
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-53, 3-62, 4-65,  5-97, 6-104, 7-111, 8-187, 9-137.

Bowling: Narenderpal Singh 16- 4- 43-0, Kaushik Reddy 20-3-57-5, Alfred Absolom 14-2-47-1, Indra Sekhar Reddy 20.1-8-28-4, Daniel Manohar 1-0-2- 0.

Hyderabad Ist Innings
D S Manohar    (batting)                          28
P Shashank Nag  c Sarabjit Singh b Hari Prasad     5
Anirudh Singh (batting)                            5
Extras (b-1,nb-4)                                  5
Total (for one wicket off 16 overs)               43
Fall of wicket: 1-21.

Bowling: Fazil Mohammed 5-0-17-0, Hari Prasad 7-2-19-1, Mohanty 1-0-1-0, Yashpal Singh 2-1-4-0, Arun Sharma 1-0-1-0