Nagaland had held the upper hand for two whole days, but the tide turned on the third day with CR Gnaneshwar making a smooth transition to put Andhra in the driver’s seat in their Ranji Trophy game in Sovima on Saturday.
Replying to Nagaland’s competitive 366, Andhra were reeling at 267 for five at stumps on the second day and the hosts looked good for the lead. But Gnaneshwar had other ideas. He came into bat at No.6 when Andhra were 199 for five and still quite a distance away from the lead.
On Saturday, Gnaneshwar shepherded the tail well and took Andhra to 536 for nine declared with a massive double century. Gnaneshwar and Sasikanth carried on from where they left the previous night and slowly built up the innings.
Sasikanth finally fell after scoring 60 off 138 balls with five fours but by that time, Andhra were within distance of Nagaland’s score. The duo added 142 invaluable runs for the sixth wicket which saved Andhra’s blushes. The runs came of 237 balls. Both partners had an almost equal share of the runs. Gnaneshwar made 79 off 99 balls while Sasikanth was the calmer of the duo. He contributed 60 of 138 balls.
Gnaneshwar makes merry
Gnaneshwar then added 52 of 64 balls for the seventh wicket with Saurabh Kumar, who scored 35 off 38 balls with four boundaries. But there was more trouble for Nagaland as Gnaneshwar found a good ally in Tripurana Vijay and the duo flayed the hosts’ bowlers.
They added 119-runs for the eight wicket which knocked the wind out of the Nagaland sails. Vijay made 58 off 94 balls with two fours and two sixes before being bowled by Imliwati Lemtur. While Vijay contributed 58 to the partnership, Gnaneshwar made 59.
Andhra soon declared their innings closed at 536 for nine with Gnaneswar coming back to the dressing room unconquered on 227 which came of 268 balls and was studded with 21 fours and four sixes.
Unlike the first innings, the Nagaland batting collapsed like a house of cards and at stumps on the penultimate day they were reduced to 85 for four with Vijay doing the most damage with a three for 29 haul.
Nagaland are still 85 behind. They began the day with hopes of taking the first innings lead but by close of play they will be praying for a draw. But it is highly unlikely as they have a whole day to bat out on the morrow.
Brief scores: Nagaland 366 in 108.3 overs (Dega Nischal 74, Chetan Bist 189, Nagaho Chishi 43; Kavuri Saiteja 3/41, Satyanarayana Raju 2/71, Tripurana Vijay 3/59) and 85/4 in 33 overs (Joshua Ozukum 36; Tripurana Vijay 3/29) vs Andhra 536/9 declared in 130 overs (Abhishek Reddy 51, Ricky Bhui 46, Karan Shinde 51, CR Gnaneshwar 227 not out, KV Sasikanth 60, Saurabh Kumar 35, Tripurana Vijay 58; Vino Zhimomi 5/86, Imliwati Lemur 3/11).
