The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Andhra takes on Karnataka

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Monday, Dec 25, 2006
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Andhra takes on Karnataka

Sports Reporter

ANANTAPUR: After successfully tackling its rivals in the four away matches, a confident Andhra begins its home campaign against Karnataka in the Elite Group B Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Rural Development Trust Sports Complex here on Monday.

Both teams lead the table with 10 points each.

Andhra's coach N. Madhukar felt that though Andhra had done well so far this season, the all-important partnerships were hard to come by. "Barring a few individual performances, the batsmen failed to give their hundred per cent. At crucial stages the top order clicked and the Shabaduddin-Kalyan Krishna duo handled the new ball quite admirably," he said.

"I look forward to Shahabuddin (22 wickets) and Kalyan (17) to deliver the goods in the bowling department. P. Vijaya Kumar will be the third seamer, who would be used in short bursts," he added.

For the diminutive opener L.N. Prasad Reddy, who impressed the selectors with his lion-hearted performance especially against Baroda (148 and 58), it will be a litmus test as he would be playing in front of his home crowd. Andhra made one change in the team bringing in M. Shashavali in place of all-rounder V. Gnaneswara Rao.

The wicket, bereft of grass, may help both the batsmen and the bowlers. "This is a 50-50 wicket. The bowlers, who bend their backs will get the bounce and batsmen with loads of patience are bound to pile up runs," said curator Sagar Choudary.

Dhiman included

Karnakata made one change replacing the injured N.S.C. Ayyappa, with Gaurav Dhiman, an all-rounder. "We will announce the final eleven after taking a look at the strip in the morning," said manager P. Sashikanth. Skipper Yere Goud said that the first goal would be to get two points from first innings lead.

The teams (from):

Andhra: V. Venugopala Rao (capt.), M.S.K. Prasad (wk), M. Shashavali, A.S.K. Varma, B. Sumanth, S. Shahabuddin, D. Kalyankrishna, Manoj Sai, Arjun Kumar, Md. Faiq, P. Vijay Kumar, Lakshman Kishore, L.N. Prasad Reddy, Chandramouli Prasad. Coach: N. Madhukar. Manager: Krishna Rao.

Karnataka: Yere Gouda (capt.), Robin Uthappa, Rowland Barrington, Bharat Chipli, C. Raghu, V.S. Thilak Naidu (wk), B. Akhil, Sunil Joshi, Gaurav Dhiman, Udit B. Patel, R. Vinay Kumar, Stuart Binny, D.T. Patil, K.P. Appanna and D. Chougule. Coach: B.K. Venkatesh Prasad. Manager: Shashikanth.

Umpires: P.S. Godbole (Vidharbha) and R.M. Deshpande (Mumbai) Match Referee: Shakthi Singh (Himachal).

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