The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Pradeep, Faiq to Andhra's rescue

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Sunday, Dec 05, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Pradeep, Faiq to Andhra's rescue

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 4. Debutant A.G. Pradeep and tail-ender Mohammed Faiq helped Andhra recover after an upbeat Karnataka attack left the visitors floundering at 107 for eight in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match that commenced at the RSI Ground here on Saturday. The duo's 129-run ninth-wicket partnership guided Andhra to 237 and at close, Karnataka was 23 for no loss.

Pradeep (59, 143b, 9 x 4), the 17-year old who led the India under-17 team last year, displayed no nerves in an innings rich in assurance and youth's flair. He walked in with the score reading 85 for six as Karnataka dominated the morning session in which the visitors skipper M.S.K. Prasad watched his decision to bat come unstuck.

Pradeep, however pulled Sunil Joshi (five for 78) for four and struck the right notes while Andhra mustered a lunch score of 96 for six in 37 overs.

In the post-lunch session, Andhra lost Prasad and Shahabuddin quickly before Mohd. Faiq (74, 114b, 9 x 4, 1 x 6) and Pradeep frustrated the Karnataka attack.

The stocky Faiq had his share of luck as Thilak Naidu dropped him on 23 off seamer Dodda Ganesh. Faiq then hoisted off-spinner C. Raghu over long-on and swept Joshi with precision to beat the fielder at fine-leg.

Meanwhile, Pradeep carved two boundaries in the arc between cover and long-off against Stuart Binny and the partnership was well and truly on course as Andhra paused at tea with a score of 190 for eight in 66 overs.

Faiq soon raced past his previous best of 71 scored against Gujarat, two seasons back at Ahmedabad, before he succumbed to a persevering Joshi. Pradeep also fell to the veteran left-arm spinner with a miscued shot but by then the duo's efforts had ensured some respectability to the Andhra score.

Earlier in the morning, the Andhra top-order fell in a heap as injudicious shots and two run-outs dented the score sheet.

Opener L.N. Prasad Reddy flicked Ganesh and strode out of the crease only to watch Barrington Rowland smother the shot and fire the stumps down from short-leg. Amit Pathak, after two boundaries off Ganesh in the day's first over, played all over.

Brothers Y. Venugopala Rao and Y. Gnaneshwar Rao fell to Joshi though Venugopala did express doubts over the catch claimed by Naidu.

A.S.K. Verma was run out and R.V.Ch. Prasad lost his off-stump to seamer Vinay Kumar. The batting horrors subsided when Pradeep and Faiq strode in with purpose but by then the damage was done.

The scores: Andhra — 1st innings: A. Pathak b Ganesh 15, L.N. Prasad Reddy (run out) 3, A.S.K. Verma (run out) 25, Y. Venugopal Rao c Thilak Naidu b Joshi 34, M.S.K. Prasad c Joshi b Vinay Kumar 13, Y. Gnaneshwar Rao c Robin b Joshi 1, R.V. Ch. Prasad b Vinay 1, A.G. Pradeep c Stuart b Joshi 59, Shahabuddin b Joshi 3, Mohammed Faiq lbw Joshi 74, Kalyan Krishna (not out) 0, Extras (lb-4, nb-4, w-1) 9, Total: 237.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-24, 3-73, 4-81, 5-84, 6-85, 7-101, 8-107, 9-236.

Karnataka bowling: Ganesh 13-2-50-1, Vinay Kumar 19-6-42-2, Binny 7-0-29-0, Joshi 30-8-78-5, Aiyappa 11-3-21-0, Raghu 2-0-13-0.

Karnataka — 1st innings: R. Uthappa (batting) 6, B. Rowland (batting) 11, Extras: (lb-5, nb-1) 6, Total (for no loss) 23.

Andhra bowling: Shahabuddin 3-0-7-0, Krishna 2-0-11-0, Faiq 1-1-0-0.

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