Andhra scored an innings and 96-run win over Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy Elite group match at the C.S.R. Sarma College ground here on Tuesday.
It was Hyderabad’s fourth defeat in five games and it has just six points now, thanks to the solitary win over Kerala.
Resuming at 45 for three after conceding a first innings lead of 264, Hyderabad needed atleast a couple of batsmen to stay put at the crease. But that was not to be.
Though captain and opener Tanmay Agarwal played a defiant knock (41, 114b, 6x4) and all-rounder T. Ravi Teja scored a belligerent unbeaten 72 (144b, 8x4, 3x6), the other batsmen failed to rise to the occasion in the face of accurate, if not hostile, bowling.
Significantly for Andhra, pacers P. Vijay Kumar, who completed a thoroughly deserving five-wicket haul (his first this season), left-armer Prithvi Raj and K.V. Sasikanth shared the spoils on a pitch where the Hyderabad bowling attack struggled.
Jaweed Ali was the first to be dismissed when Prithvi Raj forced a snick to wicketkeeper K. Srikar Bharat in the eighth over of the day.
In the same over, in-form wicketkeeper-batsman K. Sumanth, who scored a brilliant century at home against Kerala last week, was dismissed to push Hyderabad into serious trouble.
Then, Vijay struck the big blow, sending back Tanmay to reduce Hyderabad to 85 for six in 37th over.
The writing was clear on the wall but Ravi Teja showed tenacity and aggression with the bat to delay the inevitable.
To the delight of Andhra, the pace duo of Vijay and Sasikanth ensured there were no more twists and turns as they cleaned up the tail without any fuss and left the home team a deserving winner.
This was Andhra’s third win from five matches and it now has 21 points, second behind table-topper Vidarbha (23).
The scores:
Hyderabad — 1st innings: 225.
Andhra — 1st innings: 489/8 decl.
Hyderabad — 2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Shinde b Vijay Kumar 41, P. Akshath Reddy c Prashanth b Vijay Kumar 4, J. Mallikarjun c Bhui b Vijay Kumar 2, Himalay Agarwal c Bharat b Vijay Kumar 0, Jaweed Ali c Bharat b Prithvi 19, K. Sumanth b Prithvi 0, T. Ravi Teja (not out) 72, C.V. Milind b Vijay Kumar 4, Mehdi Hassan c Gnaneshwar b Prithvi 15, M. Ravi Kiran lbw b Sasikanth 1, Yudhvir Singh lbw b Sasikanth 0; Extras (b-3, lb-3, nb-3, w-1): 10; Total (in 74.4 overs): 168.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-15, 3-22, 4-61, 5-61, 6-85, 7-93, 8-123, 9-168.
Andhra bowling: Vijay Kumar 16-6-25-5, Ayyappa 10-3-33-0, Prithvi 21-9-59-3, Sasikanth 17.3-9-25-2, Vihari 7-3-11-0, Bhui 0.1-0-1-0, Sai Krishna 1-1-0-0, Karan Shinde 2-0-14-0.
Player of the match: P. Vijay Kumar.
Andhra won by an innings & 96 runs.
