Vadodara's gamble backfires, AP pile up 170/4

Vadodara, Dec 17 (UNI) A painstaking unbeaten 72 by opener L N Prasad Reddy and his 68-run second wicket stand with A S K Varma (35) guided Andhra Pradesh to a strong 170 for 4 on the opening day of their four-day Super League Ranji Trophy Group 'A' cricket match against former champions Vadodara at the Motibaug Palace ground here today.

Vadodara skipper Jacob Martin's gamble to put Venugopal Rao-led Andhra into bat after winning the toss backfired as the three medium pacers--Rakesh Patel, Isrfan Pathan (Sr) and Murtguja Vohra failed to capitalise on the morning dew on the batting track.

Batting cautiously, Andhra, who were comfortably placed at 170 for three in 89 overs losing one wicket each in three sessions, were 4 down in the very last over of the day as Y Gnaneswar Rao (28) was adjudged lbw to a Rakesh Patel delivery. Together with opener Reddy, Rao added 46 runs for the fourth wicket stand which lasted for 82 minutes.

Reddy, who was instrumental in Andhra's outright victory against Sourashtra in the last match at Rajkot, frustrated the hosts bowlers as he held on to the wicket firmly batting all through the day.

He played 270 balls and hit five boundaries during his 361 minutes occupation at the crease.

After toiling hard, Vadodara got the first breakthrough in the 20th over when left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar dismissed M S K Prasad for 16. Pawar claimed the second wicket for Vadodara in the post-lunch session as A S K Varma (35, 7x4) edged him to Ketan Panchal at gully going for a big hit. By then the visitors had taken their score to 100 in 54.4 overs with a 68-run partnership for the second wicket. Skipper Venugopal, who joined Reddy, however did not last long as medium pacer Murtuja Vohra sent him back to pavilion with 15 runs soon after the tea break.

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