Amandeep Khare was standing between Andhra and the first innings lead as Chhattisgarh put up a gritty fight on the second day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the DVR Ground in Mulapadu, Vijayawada, on Tuesday.
At stumps, Chhattisgarh were 216 for eight with Khare batting on 74 off 171 balls with seven fours and giving him company was Dev Aditya Singh on 5. Chhattisgarh need 16 more for the vital first innings lead, while Andhra need to take the last two wickets for their same goal.
On a day of gripping cricket, Chhattisgarh, resuming at 35 for one, went on to reach 59 before Mayank Verma was trapped leg before by Saurabh Kumar for 20 (80 balls, 1×4).
Sreeram Rahul comes to Andhra’s rescue again with a fighting 89 against Chhattisgarh
Skipper Anuj Tiwary was caught by Lalith Mohan off T Vijay for 34 which came off 112 balls with three fours and Chhattisgarh then lost Vikalp Tiwari (4) in the same over as Tripurana Vijay had him caught by KV Sasikanth.
The visitors came under further pressure as Rahul Pradhan was caught behind by Revanth Reddy off Saurabh Kumar for 11, but Amandeep and Ajay Mandal steadied the rocking boat.
They added 56 for the sixth wicket before Ajay was caught behind by Revanth off pacer Sasikanth. The batter made 29 off 87 balls with three fours and a six.
Andhra kept pegging way as Jayant Yadav (4) was snapped up by Revanth off left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan and Dharmendrasingh Jadeja (3) was caught by Sreeram Rahul off Vijay to leave Chhattisgarh delicately placed at 205 for eight.
However, Amandeep kept the Chhattisgarh hopes alive with a fighting knock.
Off-spinner Tripurana Vijay took three for 73 while left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar got two for 74.
Brief scores: Andhra 231 vs Chhattisgarh 216 for eight in 95 overs (Anuj Tiwary 34, Mayank Varma 20, Amandeep Khare 74 batting, Ajay Mandal 29; Tripurana Vijay 3/73, Saurabh Kumar 2/74).
