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Cricket
Andhra beats Tamil Nadu in thriller
By Our Staff Reporter
Andhra's R.V.Ch. Prasad and wicketkeeper M.S.K. Prasad successfully appeal for a leg before verdict against S. Sharath of Tamil Nadu in the K.S. Subbiah Pillai Trophy match at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
VISAKHAPATNAM, JAN. 5. Andhra pulled off an exciting five-run win over Tamil Nadu in the K.S. Subbiah Pillai Trophy tournament at the MCV Stadium here on Saturday.
It was a memorable match for R.V.Ch. Prasad who slammed an unbeaten 42 off 26 balls (2x6, 4x4) as Andhra reached 260 for six and then took three vital wickets, including that of S. Sharath (82, 143b, 1x6, 7x4), just when the talented southpaw was set to take Tamil Nadu to victory.
Y. Venugopala Rao came up with another responsible knock (68, 96b, 5x4) and captain M.S.K. Prasad, in the company of R.V.Ch. Prasad, increased the Andhra run rate with a breezy 58 (60b, 1x6, 5x4). M.S.K. Prasad also brought off two dismissals behind the stumps.
A target of 261 was not too difficult for the visitor but R.V.Ch. Prasad, who opened the attack with S.K. Shahabuddin in the absence of the injured Madhukar, had S. Sriram snicking to a diving M.S.K. Prasad in the very first over. And with the first ball of the third over, Prasad forced Hemang Badani to give a simple catch to I. Shrinivas at short cover.
Sharath's two partnerships _ 67 for the third wicket with S. Suresh and 57 for the fifth with Robin Singh (50, 56b, 1x6, 3x4) _ almost ensured victory for Tamil Nadu. Sharath's stand with Robin was particularly frustrating as no bowling change had any effect on the batsmen. So confident was Sharath, he went on his knees to lift Y. Venugopala Rao over the midwicket fence.
Tamil Nadu's progress was stopped by Prasad again, as he trapped Sharath in front in the second over off his new spell. Robin went immediately after reaching 50, M.S.K. Prasad snapping up the edge as the batsmen tried to cut off-spinner H. Watekar.
Unfazed, Tamil Nadu's Vasanth Saravanan (37 not out, 44b, 1x4) kept the scoreboard ticking. Tamil Nadu needed 25 off the last two overs and Vasanth was dropped in the deep by Faiyaz off Watekar in the second ball of the 49th over. However, the long-on fielder made amends two balls later by holding Arasu.
When Dhandapani hit a six off the last ball of the penultimate over, Tamil Nadu needed 15 from the final over. But Saravanan was given no freedom by Shahabuddin and Andhra romped home by five runs.
Andhra now has eight points from three matches. It did not get the bonus point through run-rate from its encounter against Kerala on Friday as a few more calculations revealed. Tamil Nadu has five from three ties.
The scores:
Andhra: L.N. Prasad Reddy c Arasu b L. Balaji 7, Amit Pathak b Sriram 50, P. Srihari Rao (run out) 0, Y. Venugopala Rao c Badani b Dhandapani 68, M.S.K. Prasad b L. Balaji 58, K.S. Shahabuddin lbw Shrinivas 15, R.V.Ch. Prasad (not out) 42, H. Watekar (not out) 4; Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-2, w-10): 16; Total (for six wkts. in 50 overs) 260.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-104, 4-158, 5-203, 6-236.
Tamil Nadu bowling: L. Balaji 9-2-27-2, Shrinivas 8-1-46-1, Sriram 10-0-37-1, Vasanth Saravanan 2-0-16-0, Robin 10-0-65-0, Dhandapani 8-1-38-1, Badani 3-0-27-1.
Tamil Nadu: S. Sriram c M.S.K. Prasad b R.V.Ch. Prasad 4, S. Suresh c Venugopala Rao b Md. Faiq 37, Hemang Badani c I. Shrinivas b R.V.Ch. Prasad 11, S. Sharath lbw b R.V.Ch. Prasad 82, J. Madanagopal lbw b Watekar 7, Robin Singh c M.S.K. Prasad b Watekar 50, S. Vasanth Saravanan (not out) 37, T.R. Arasu c Md. Fayaz Ahmed b Watekar 7, D. Dhandapani (not out) 6; Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-2, w-5) 14; Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs) 255.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-21, 3-88, 4-106, 5-173, 6-225, 7-239.
Andhra bowling: Shahabuddin 10-1-41-0, R.V.Ch. Prasad 10-0-41-3, Venugopala Rao 9-0-65-0, Md. Faiq 10-0-44-1, Watekar 10-0-51-3, Pathak 1-0-6-0.
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