BOWLERS struck in unison to hand Vidarbha a crucial first innings lead over Andhra on the second day of the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at Anantapur on Friday. Resuming the day at 267, Vidarbha managed to add 28 runs to end their innings at 295, thus taking a 67 runs lead.. Yash Rathod, who was unbeaten on 104 on the opening day, could add another 11 runs to his overnight score as the tail could not wag for the title holders. The bowlers then made the day difficult for Andhra bundling them out for 228.

 

At stumps, Vidarbha were four without loss with nightwatchman Aditya Thakare scoring all the runs, stretching the lead to 71 runs. Vidarbha bowlers were on the money striking at regular intervals as Andhra could muster 228 in 65.5 overs. Darshan Nalkande (2-71), Bhute (2-71), Thakare (2-33) and Parth Rekhade (2-25) chipped in at the right time taking a couple of wickets each. Captain Harsh Dubey managed one wicket. For Andhra, opener Abhishek Reddy showed some resistance to score a patient 73 runs but he did not get support from the other end as Vidarbha bowlers kept on taking wickets.

 

It was Saurabh Kumar’s rearguard heroics that Andhra managed to cross 200-run mark. Saurabh scored 62 runs before he was cleaned by Rekhade to be the last man out. With two full days in hand, Vidarbha, will aim to bat long and put a huge target for Andhra.

 

VIDARBHA 1ST INNINGS (Overnight 267-7) Y Rathod c Bharat b Saiteja115 N Bhute c Rasheed b Raju31 P Rekhade c Bharat b Saiteja4 A Thakare Not Out2 Extras: (b 4, lb 7, nb 1, w 6)18 TOTAL: (All out, 89.3 overs)295 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-33, 3-38, 4-45, 5-138, 6-156, 7-232, 8-283, 9-285. Bowling: Reddy 14-3-51-1, Sasikanth 14-2-50-0, Raju 20-6-62-5, Saiteja 16.3-2-46-3, Vijay 15-1-47-0, Kumar 10-1-28-1. ANDHRA 1ST INNINGS A Reddy c Mokhade b Thakare73 S Bharat c Samarth b Nalkande9 S Rasheed b Bhute0 R Bhui c Binkar b Thakare0 K Shinde b Dubey20 N Reddy c Samarth b Nalkande35 KV Sasikanth c Binkar b Bhute1 S Kumar b Rekhade62 K Raju run out (Bhute)5 T Vijay lbw b Rekhade17 K Saiteja Not Out4 Extras: (b 1, lb 1)2 TOTAL: (All out, 65.3 overs)228 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-42, 3-49, 4-94, 5-118, 6-119, 7-166, 8-183, 9-223. Bowling: Nalkande 14-0-71-2, Thakare 12-2-33-2, Bhute 15-1-71-2, Dubey 16-4-26-1, Rekhade 8.3-1-25-2. VIDARBHA 2ND INNINGS A Thakare batting4 A Taide batting0 TOTAL: (No loss, 2 overs)4 Bowling: Kumar 1-0-4-0, Raju 1-1-0-0.