Andhra rides on Vijay’s fifer and Rasheed’s fluent unbeaten knock

Dismisses Hyderabad for 301 and ends the second day on 168 for two; Tanmay falls for 159

It was Andhra’s day as first off-spinner Tripurana Vijay claimed his maiden five-wicket haul and then S.K. Rasheed scored a fluent unbeaten half-century as it made 168 for two in the first innings in reply to Hyderabad’s 301 on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Thursday.

Play was stopped with 16 overs to go due to rain with Hyderabad clearly looking at the long tunnel of despair.

The 23-year-old Vijay continued to impress with an immaculate, teasing line to return with career-best figures in First Class cricket as the home team scored only 57 runs, losing the last five wickets in 15.4 overs in the morning session.

The respectable total was achieved thanks to seasoned campaigner Tanmay Agarwal’s counter-attack (159, 287b, 12x4, 3x6), who scored 35 runs on the day, including two huge sixes off Vijay and was the last to be dismissed.

When Andhra batted, opener M. Hemanth Reddy (nine) was brilliantly caught by second slip Nitesh Reddy, diving to his left and latch on to a sharp chance off pacer C.T.L. Rakshann.

The other opener Abhishek Reddy (38, 74b, 4x4, 1x6) and the classy Rasheed (79 batting, 161b, 11x4) put on 67 for the second wicket before the former was trapped in front by left-arm spinner G. Anikethreddy with one that kept low.

With Karan Shinde (41 batting, 94b, 4 x4) joining him, Rahseed showed why he is rated so highly. The way he timed his shots, especially off Rakshann through the midwicket and cover regions and his straight drives were a real treat to watch.

Combining rock-solid defence and excellent stroke-play, Rasheed and Karan (41 batting, 94b, 4x4) denied Hyderabad any further success as bowlers struggled on a pitch that offered little help.

The scores: Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Sandeep b Rafi 159, Abhirath Reddy c Lalith b Vijay 35, K. Rohit Rayudu c (sub) Gnaneshwar b Vijay 0, K. Himateja c Bharat b Sandeep 36, G. Rahul Singh c & b Vijay 1, K. Nitesh Reddy st Bharat b Lalith 22, Rahul Radesh lbw b Sasikanth 22, Chama Milind b Vijay 5, Tanay Thyagarajan c Rasheed b Vijay 10, G. Anikethreddy c Bharat b Rafi 7, C.T.L. Rakshann (not out) 0, Extras (b-4): 4; Total (in 105.4 overs): 301.

Fall of wickets: 1-91, 2-95, 3-151, 4-152, 5-200, 6-245, 7-253, 8-265, 9-288.

Andhra bowling: Sasikanth 19-4-38-1, Rafi 24.4-5-59-2, Vijay 31-5-118-5, Lalith 23-4-64-1, Sandeep 8-0-18-1.

Andhra — 1st innings: M. Hemanth Reddy c Nitesh b Rakshann 9, Abhishek Reddy lbw b Anikethreddy 38, S.K. Rasheed (batting) 79, Karan Shinde (batting) 41; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for two wkts. in 58 overs): 168.

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-84.

Hyderabad bowling: Milind 8-2-21-0, Rakshann 10-0-35-1, Anikethreddy 22-5-56-1, Thyagarajan 9-0-39-0, Rohit Rayudu 9-2-16-0.

Published - November 15, 2024 11:07 am IST