Stephen, Sasikanth & Prasad fashion Andhra’s 43-run victory over Tripura in SMAT opener

Left-arm seamer Ch Stephen and pacer KV Sasikanth fashioned Andhra’s 43-run win over Tripura in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Saturday afternoon.

After posting a modest 141 for nine thanks to Prasad’s half-century, Andhra found their saviours in the pace attack. Stephen and Sasikanth bagged three wickets each as Tripura were bowled out for 98.

In the game, two of Srikar Bharat’s records were broken. Skipper Ricky Bhui broke the record of most T20s as captain for Andhra. He has gone past Bharat with 23 appearances as skipper.

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Revanth Reddy too broke the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in an innings in T20s for Andhra. He went past Bharat’s four by having six dismissals in this game.

Tripura seemed to have got a good start as openers Bikramkumar Das and Sridam Paul but Andhra pacers were at the top of their game. Satyanarayan Raju got the first breakthrough when he had Das caught by Prasad for 7.

Stephen then got into the act as he had Paul (4) caught by Sasikanth. Mandeep Singh struck three fours in his 11-ball 16 but it was too good to last as Sasikanth had him caught behind by Revanth Reddy.

Sasikanth took his second wicket by having Lakshay Thareja (3) caught behind by Revanth. Offspinner B Yeswanth then had Saurabh Das (10) caught by Hemanth Reddy to leave Tripura poorly placed at 51 for five. They never got out of the rut thereafter.

Saurabh Kumar too got into the act as he had Sentu Sarkar (14) stumped by Revanth and Tripura skipper Manisankar Murasingh (11) was also stumped by Revanth off Yeshwanth.

Stephen then wiped off the tail by having Viki Saha (0) caught by Ashwin Hebbar and Abhijit Sarkar (1) caught by Revanth.

Sasikanth put the last nail in the coffin by having Arindam Barman caught behind to leave Tripura at 98. Arindam topscored with 25 off 14 balls with three fours and a six.

K Revanth Reddy failed with the bat but broke the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in an innings in T20s for Andhra. He went past KS Bharat’s four by having six dismissals in this game

Earlier, Andhra made a poor start with M Hemanth Reddy (0) falling in the first over itself. He was caught by Thareja off Murasingh and Revanth Reddy (7) was bowled by S Das with 21 on the board.

Bhui too did not last long as he was caught by Barman of Sarkar and Andhra were 40 for three. However, Sreeram Rahul, who has been in good form this season, and Ashwin Hebbar added 29 to the score before Rahul was caught by S Das off Saha for a 27-ball 27 with three fours.

Andhra continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Hebbar was caught by Sarkar of Saha for 34 off 16 balls with a four and three sixes as Andhra were down 80 for five.

Even as wickets continued to fall at the other hand, Prasad played a lone hand to take Andhra to a total of respectability. Prasad made an unbeaten 50 off 33 balls with six fours and a six. It was quite a commendable effort from Prasad considering the lack of support from the others. Prasad was named Player of the Match for his stupendous effort.

Andhra, who have not done well it the Ranji Trophy after a bright start this season, will be keen to make a mark for themselves in this tournament.

Brief scores: Andhra 141 for nine in 20 overs (Sreeram Rahul 27, Ashwin Hebbar 34, SDNV Prasad 50 not out; Viki Saha 3/23, Abhijit Sarkar 2/22, Saurabh Das 2/34) beat Tripura 98 in 17.2 overs (Mandeep Singh 16, Arindam Barman 25; Ch Stephen 3/29, KS Sasikanth 3/12, B Yeshwanth 2/24).