Bolstered by G Sankara Rao's well crafted 91, Andhra Pradesh amassed 287 runs in the second innings of their Ranji trophy Elite Group-B match at Barabati stadium in Cuttack putting a stiff target of 327 runs before host Orissa to win.
Having already demolished Orissa for a paltry 140 in the first innings, the visitors struggled in early hours as they
lost two quick wickets when the scoreboard read 86 for four on the third day of the four-day match. From their overnight score of 67 for two, they reached 287 for nine before declaring the innings.
It was consecutive half-century by Andhra left hander Sankara Rao who had scored 73 in the first innings on the
opening day. Sankara Rao's 91 included six fours and a six as he faced 134 balls in 179 minutes before being bowled by P Das while the visitors' score was further propelled by a patient and skillful 60 by AG Pradeep.
Pradeep who stuck around for 231 minutes and faced 159 balls hit seven fours and a six. A valuable sixth wicket
partnership of 108 runs gave boost to Andhra team. Though they grabbed two early wickets in the pre-lunch session, Orissa were unable to maintain the attack as Andhra middle order showed patience and tenacity to pile up the runs.
While medium pacer Preetamjeet Das captured three Andhra wickets including that of Sankara Rao, who was bowled, Debashish Mohanty grabbed two. P Jayachandra, who had captured six wickets in the first innings, had to be content with the sole wicket of LNP Reddy who was caught by H Das.
Facing a tough target, Orissa were 32 for no loss in their second innings as BS Pati was batting at 8 and SS Das 23 at close.
Andhra Pradesh (1st innings): 179
Orissa (1st innings): 140
Andhra Pradesh (2nd innings): overnight 67 for 2
H Vatekar b P Das 19
L Reddy c H das b P Jayachandra 6
A Varma b P Mallick 38
M Prasad b D Mohanty 22
Y Ganeswara Rao c S S Das b P Das 2
A Pradeep c N Behera b D Mohanty 60
G Shankara Rao b P Das 91
Md Faiq run out 8
D Kalyan Krishna run out 0
M Suresh not out 7
Extras: (b 11 lb 15 nb 8) 34
Total: (declared for 9 wickets in 93.3 overs) 287
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-31, 3-82, 4-86, 5-137, 6-245, 7-267, 8-268, 9-287
Bowling: D Mohanty 21-6-50-2, S Khatua 10-0-32-0, P Das 20.3-5-53-3, P Jayachandra 12-1-31-1, N Behera 17-4-49-0, P Mallick 8-1-25-1, S Biswal 2-0-7-0, SS Das 3-0-14-0.
Orissa 2nd innings :
BS Pati batting 8
SS Das batting 23
Extras: (b 1) 1
Total: (for no wicket in 13 overs) 32
Bowling: D Kalyan Krishna 5-1-6-0, P Vijay Kumar 2-1-9-0, G Shankara Rao 2-0-9-0, M Suresh 2-2-0-0, Y Ganeshwara Rao 1-0-6-0, Md Faiq 1-0-1-0
