An excellent exhibition of seam bowling gave Maharashtra a memorable come-from-behind 75-run win over Andhra in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Maharashtra displayed grit and determination while adding 51 to its overnight score of 172 for six, setting Andhra a challenging target of 177 on the third day of the contest. Its speedsters bowled with discipline to bundle out Andhra for 101 runs and win with two days to spare.
In the semifinals, Maharashtra will meet the winner of the Tamil Nadu-Vidarbha match.
Tripathi shines After dense fog delayed the start by 90 minutes, Kedar Jadhav fell to D. Siva Kumar off the second ball of the day. But, Rahul Tripathi, who retired hurt overnight, took charge immediately. He exploited the space over the in-field with some big shots; once the field was spread out, he milked ones and twos.
Tripathi’s 38-ball 43, which contained five fours and a six, and his 49-run partnership with Anupam Sanklecha took Maharashtra to a fighting total. Tripathi was caught at second slip off Siva Kumar, who was rewarded for his persistence with his second six-wicket haul of the match.
Maharashtra benefited from the good showing of its pace quartet — Samad Fallah, Sanklecha, Dominic Muthuswami and Shrikant Mundhe — who bowled a tight line and made the ball move dangerously off the surface.
Rohit Motwani rotated his bowlers well, not allowing the Andhra batsmen to settle down. Sanklecha, who had claimed four wickets in the first innings, bagged four wickets again. He provided the breakthrough in the eighth over, luring K.S. Bharat to play a pull shot which landed in mid-off’s hands.
Rash shot Mundhe, who looked far more lethal, sent back two set batsmen — D.B. Prasanth (18) and Mohammad Kaif (15). Prasanth was guilty of playing a rash shot, while Kaif was adjudged leg before after padding up to a straight delivery.
Muthuswami reaped the dividends of accuracy, while Fallah impressed with his crafty bowling.
With the runs drying up, the Andhra batsmen found the going tough. A.G. Pradeep (25, 136m, 80b) hung in there, but there was none to give him company.
“Historically, teams batting first have won here, so we wanted to take first strike. Overall, it was a terrific team effort,” said Motwani.
The scores:
Maharashtra — 1st innings: 91.
Andhra — 1st innings: 138.
Maharashtra — 2nd innings: Swapnil Gugale b Siva Kumar 0, Harshad Khadiwale c Kaif b Stephen 47, Rohit Motwani st. Bharat b Vijay Kumar 7, Chirag Khurana lbw b Stephen 23, Ankit Bawne c Bharat b Siva Kumar 1, Kedar Jadhav c Bharat b Siva Kumar 81, Rahul Tripathi c Pradeep b Siva Kumar 43, Shrikant Mundhe c Pradeep b Siva Kumar 6, Anupam Sanklecha lbw b Stephen 6, Dominic Muthuswami (not out) 1, Samad Fallah c Harish b Siva Kumar 0; Extras (lb-4, nb-4): 8; Total (in 68.3 overs): 223.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-56, 3-58, 4-66, 5-145, 6-169, 7-172, 8-221, 9-223.
Andhra bowling: P. Vijay Kumar 23-9-49-1, D. Siva Kumar 21.3-4-79-6, C.V. Stephen 17-4-54-3, K. Harish 7-0-37-0.
Andhra — 2nd innings: D.B. Prasanth c Motwani b Mundhe 18, K.S. Bharat c Mundhe b Sanklecha 9, M.U.B. Sriram lbw b Muthuswami 5, Md. Kaif lbw b Mundhe 15, A.G. Pradeep lbw b Muthuswami 25, Ricky Bhui c Motwani b Fallah 4, D. Siva Kumar c Khadiwale b Fallah 12, Naren Reddy b Sanklecha 1, K. Harish b Sanklecha 2, C.V. Stephen b Sanklecha 0, P. Vijay Kumar (not out) 4; Extras (lb-6): 6; Total (in 46.3 overs): 101.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-32, 3-36, 4-55, 5-62, 6-80, 7-85, 8-87, 9-93.
Maharashtra bowling: Samad Fallah 15-2-33-2, Anupam Sanklecha 11-4-19-4, Dominic Muthuswami 11.3-3-26-2, Shrikant Mundhe 9-4-17-2.
Man-of-the-match: K. Jadhav.
