A collective bowling performance helped Madhya Pradesh stage a remarkable fightback and extend their overall lead to 83 runs at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Andhra on Saturday.
The 2021-22 winners MP resumed the day at 234 for 9 and they lost their last wicket without adding any runs to their total. They had squandered a perfect start to their first innings when openers Yash Dubey (64) and Himanshu Mantri (49) put on 123 for the first wicket.
For Andhra, KV Sasikanth took 4 for 37 while Nithish Kumar Reddy returned with figures of 3/50. Shoaib Mohammed Khan and Girinath Reddy also chipped in with a wicket each as Andhra had a platform set to capitalise on the game.
But Madhya Pradesh bowlers joined forces to pull off a remarkable performance, bowling out Andhra for a mere 172 in their first innings to hand their side a 62-run lead.
None of the Andhra batters could make a mark against a probing MP bowling line-up. Andhra skipper and current Ranji season-leading run-scorer Ricky Bhui was dismissed for 32 (53 balls, 5x4s, 1x6s) by Kulwant Khejroliya.
The damage, however, was done at the top by MP and India bowler Avesh Khan who removed Andhra opener DB Prashanth Kumar for a four-ball duck and also accounted for No. 3 Ashwin Hebbar for just one.
Anubhav Agarwal trapped K Revanth Reddy leg-before for 22 and also pinned India batter Hanuma Vihari for 14 in front of the wickets.
Late in the innings, Agarwal accounted for the dangerous Shoaib Mohammad Khan for 22 to return with a fine 18-6-33-3.
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya also got into the act to return 3/41 from his 19 overs, accounting for the highest-scorer of the innings Karan Shinde (38), Nithish (7) and Sasikanth (12).
The visiting side were bowled out for 172 in 68.3 overs, following which Madhya Pradesh reached 21 for no loss at stumps on the second day with an overall lead of 83 runs.
Dubey was batting on six while wicketkeeper-batter Mantri reached 50 not out with the help of three fours to make it MP’s day on Saturday.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 234 in 81.1 overs (Yash Dubey 64, Himanshu Mantri 49, Saransh Jain 41 not out; Nithish Kumar Reddy 3/50, KV Sasikanth 4/37) and 21/0 in 7 overs (Himanshu Mantri 15 not out) lead Andhra 172 in 68.3 overs (Karan Shinde 38; Anubhav Agarwal 3/38, Kumar Kartikeya 3/41) by 83 runs.
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