The Hindu : Sport : Sumanth, Rao prop up Andhra

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Sumanth, Rao prop up Andhra

Principal Correspondent

— PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

BRILLIANT ANTICIPATION: L.N. Prasad Reddy’s stay at the middle comes to an end as S. Badrinath latches on to an edge which ricocheted off Dinesh Karthik’s gloves.

VIJAYAWADA: B. Sumanth’s unbeaten 70 and an unbroken 77-run fourth wicket partnership with skipper Y. Gnaneswara Rao helped Andhra post 191 for three wickets in 90 overs against Tamil Nadu in the super league Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ match at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium here on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu, keen to garner as many points as possible from the rain-hit match, put Andhra in after winning the toss. The medium-pacers responded well by reducing Andhra to 53 for two at lunch, packing off opener Prasad Reddy and debutant Prabhu Kiran.

Initial breakthrough

Ganapathy, in his second over and 11th of the innings, drew first blood by dismissing Prasad Reddy, who nicked an outgoing delivery.

The ball ricocheted off the gloves of wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik but an alert Badrinath in the slip cordon showed brilliant anticipation by lunging forward to snatch the ball inches off the ground.

Prabhu, who joined opener Watekar, failed to stay long, perishing to Amarnath in the 22nd over.

Watekar had a determined partner in Sumanth and they posted 76 runs for the third wicket.

Keen to break the partnership, skipper Karthik kept shuffling his bowlers and used seven bowlers to halt Andhra’s progress.

Watekar’s 182minute-long vigil came to end when he miscued a lofted shot straight into the hands of Ashwin at mid-off.

Skipper Gnaneswara Rao joined the well-set Sumanth and Andhra took control in the post-tea session. Rao was the dominant partner. Sumanth posted his first 50 of the season by pulling a short pitched delivery off offie Ashwin.

Tamil Nadu took the new ball after 80 overs but the much-needed breakthrough didn’t come.

Before the start of the match both teams paid homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting the terrorists in Mumbai.

The scores: Andhra — 1st innings: H. Watekar c Ashwin b C. Suresh 39, L.N. Prasad Reddy c Badrinath b Ganapathy 9, D. Prabhu Kiran c Karthik b Amarnath 11, B. Sumanth (batting) 70, Y. Gnaneswara Rao (batting) 43; Extras (lb-8, b-2, nb-9) 19. Total (for three wkts. in 90 overs): 191.

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-38, 3-114.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Balaji 17-7-26-0, Amarnath 19-5-39-1, Ganapathy 17-5-31-1, C. Suresh 16-4-31-1, Ashwin 15-3-42-0, Suresh Kumar 5-0-11-0, Vidyut 1-0-1-0.

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