Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sibsankar Roy’s ton sees Assam emerge unlikely winner in tough outing

Sibsankar Roy’s majestic hundred guided Assam to an improbable four-wicket win over Hyderabad in its Vijay Hazare Group 2025 Group B encounter at the Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground ‘C’ in Rajkot on Monday.

Roy (112, 109b, 11×4, 1×6) stitched up a mammoth 142-run third-wicket stand with young opener Saurav Dihingia (91, 112b, 9×4, 1×6), which laid the foundation for the thrilling chase of 310 with three balls to spare. 

Roy found himself at the crease before the end of the first PowerPlay after the team lost Pradyun Saikia, who collected three fours in the first over of the chase, and captain Sumit Ghadigaonkar. Hyderabad played only two pacers on the day, and the two Assam batters had their task cut out against the spinners. The dugout kept shouting instructions, asking them to take the game deep, and the duo did just that, showing great patience in knocking the ball around.

Dihingia was miffed upon being adjudged run out on 91 by the third umpire. After a brief delay, during which he explained why he felt the ball had been dead, the decision was reaffirmed by the third umpire. Dihingia’s exit meant Roy switched roles to become the accumulator. Denish Das (54, 46b, 7×4) injected some pace into the innings with timely boundaries to keep the required rate within touching distance. Hyderabad fought back with a slew of wickets at the death, but Abdul Ajij Kuraishi maintained his cool to hang back and pull two boundaries through fine leg in the final over to seal a famous win. 

AS IT HAPPENED

Earlier, openers Tanmay Agarwal and Rahul Singh Gahlaut (79, 71b, 14×4) gave Hyderabad a solid start to its innings after opting to bat. The two southpaws took a few balls to adjust to the bounce of the surface before letting out many drives on the up against pace to collect 42 from seven. 

Tanmay fell first ball against spin, misreading the bounce as he looked to sweep. Abhirath Reddy (54, 66b, 6×4), demoted to three, provided the supporting hand as Rahul unleashed his offside shots to good effect. He even brought out the reverse sweep to counter the spinners before getting stumped looking to charge down against Sarupam Purkayastha.  

Abhirath continued to push the ball into the gaps to bring up his first fifty of the tournament before he too holed out to long-on, trying to be too greedy. Varun Goud (42, 46b, 2×4, 1×6) took over the mantle of rotating strike from him and shored up one end. A 70-ball 66-run association with Rahul Buddhi set the platform for K. Nitesh Reddy (53, 25b, 4×4, 3×6) to provide the final flourish, but that would prove inadequate at the end.

Published on Dec 29, 2025