Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 26 (ANI): A six-wicket haul by pacer Anubhav Agarwal brought down curtains down on Andhra Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy campaign in the quarterfinals, as they fell to a four-run loss to Madhya Pradesh in a thrilling encounter at Indore on Monday.
MP elected to bat first after winning the toss and put up 234 runs in their first innings in 81.1 overs. Yash Dubey (64 in 133 balls, with five fours and a six) and Himanshu Mantri (49 in 97 balls, with four boundaries and a six) put on a brilliant 123-run opening stand, but the team was dominated by Andhra bowlers after they got out. Saransh Jain (41) and Kumar Kartikeya (29) did register some fighting knocks, but AP had knocked down the remaining eight wickets for 104 runs.
KV Sasikanth (4/37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (3/50) were the pick of the bowlers for AP.
Andhra flopped in their first inning and were bundled out for just 172 runs in 68.3 overs. Karan Shinde (38 in 83 balls, with seven fours) was the top-scorer for AP. Ricky Bhui, the skipper, also made 32 in 53 balls, with five fours and a six. Wicketkeeper-batter Revanth Reddy and Shoaib Md Khan also made 22 runs each, but the team was still trailing by 62 runs.
Anubhav (3/33) and Kumar Kartikeya (3/41) were the pick of the bowlers for AP. Avesh Khan (2/33) and Kulwant Khejroliya (2/47) also bowled well for AP.
Andhra Pradesh bounced back in the MP’s second innings, bundling them out for just 107 runs in 40.5 overs. Himanshu (43 in 107 balls, with six fours) was the only batter who could score something decent for MP. Nitish Kumar (4/28), Sasikanth (3/20) and Lalith Mohan (3/20) were exceptional with the ball for AP. MP lead by 169 runs.
AP was given a target of 170 runs to win. Anubhav troubled the AP batters, taking six wickets for 52 runs, but half-century from Hanuma Vihari (55 in 136 balls, with seven fours), Ashwin Hebbar (22) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (20) kept AP’s semifinals dream alive. At one point, AP needed 21 runs to win while MP needed two wickets, but Anubhav and Khejroliya took the final two wickets to bundle AP out for just 165 runs, winning the match by four runs.
Anubhav took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his nine wickets in the match. (ANI)
