Andhra’s response to Chhattisgarh’s 394 ran into rough weather in their Ranji Trophy Group C match at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground on Friday. The southern side buckled under the strain, stuttering to 151 for five when day two ended.
K.S. Bharat, trying to work the ball away from around his legs, was caught behind by his counterpart P. Vivek off Pankaj Rao. Vihari’s off-stump was uprooted not much later by the same bowler, the Andhra captain a tad late to blunt the threat.
If sides slacken after the mid-day meal, no such lethargy was seen from the Chhattisgarh attack that stuck to a fairly taut line and with vigour. D.B. Prashanth had got a measure of the bowlers though, 11 boundaries in a 91-ball 62 enough evidence of his comfort levels in the middle.
Disaster strikesShortly after tea, the opener set out for a single that turned suicidal. Mid-on Abhuday Kant Singh broke stumps at the bowler’s end, cutting short what had all the makings of a long stay. A.G. Pradeep fell soon after, Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan sending his off-stick crashing with a thud.
Friday’s first session was far more fruitful for Andhra as its bowlers cleaned up Chhattisgarh’s middle and lower orders shortly before lunch.
Amandeep Khare was first to depart, rapped on the pads by Siva Kumar. Andhra’s opening bowler, working up a lively pace from a strip still holding firm, then pegged back Ajay Mandal’s off stump.
Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan, overnight on 73, then took apart the Andhra attack. Never in doubt, the former Baroda batsman timed his drives well on either side of the wicket as he did his cuts that evaded the slips each time. The Bhilai-born right hander was hardly nervous in his 90s, even if his last century came against Maharashtra at Pune nearly four years ago.
On crossing the landmark, Chauhan removed his helmet, raised his bat and looked skywards, as if in thanksgiving but was back to his run-getting role soon after. It took the guile of his former Baroda teammate Bhargav Bhatt to engineer the batsman’s exit, by trapping him in front.
Chauhan had put on 79 for the seventh wicket with P. Vivek, the left-hander and former Vidarbha captain chipping in with a useful 32.
The scores
Chhattisgarh — 1st innings: Sahil Gupta c Bharat b Stephen 30, Rishabh Tiwari c Bharat b Stephen 1, A.N. Khare lbw b Siva Kumar 143, Ashutosh Singh c Bharat b Ayyappa 14, Mohd Kaif lbw b Siva Kumar 0, Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan lbw b Bhatt 123, Ajay Mandal b Siva Kumar 0, P. Vivek c & b Vihari 32, Abhuday Kant Singh b Siva Kumar 5, Pankaj Rao not out 15, Pratik Raj Sinha b Ayyappa 22; Extras (lb-3, nb-5, w-1): 9; Total (in 126.4 overs): 394.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-68, 3-91, 4-92, 5-273, 6-273, 7-352, 8-352, 9-367.
Andhra bowling: D. Siva Kumar 28-12-61-4, Ch. Stephen 22-4-69-2, B. Ayyappa 25.4-3-94-2, Bhargav Bhatt 26-4-68-1, Ashwin Hebbar 13-2-52-0, D.B. Prashant 2-0-22-0, D.B. Ravi Teja 3-0-13-0, G. Hanuma Vihari 7-0-12-1.
Andhra — 1st innings: D.B. Prashanth Kumar run out (Abhuday) 62, K.S. Bharat c P. Vivek b Pankaj 0, G.H. Vihari b Pankaj 5, A.G. Pradeep b Chauhan 18, D.B. Ravi Teja (batting) 30, M.U.B. Sriram c Vivek b Ajay Mandal 6, Ashwin Hebbar (batting) 18; Extras (lb-4, nb-8): 12; Total (for five wkts. in 49 overs): 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-46, 3-93, 4-93, 5-104.
Chhattisgarh bowling: Abhuday Kant Singh 5-1-29-0, Pankaj Rao 15-1-54-2, Ajay Mandal 15-6-21-1, Pratik Sinha 7-1-30-0, Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan 7-1-13-1.
