K Maheep Kumar hit a patient unbeaten half-century to steer Andhra to a five-wicket victory over Services in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Alur Cricket Stadium II in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Chasing a modest 166 for victory, Andhra lost opener and wicketkeeper KS Bharat (7) with 27 on the board. Fellow opener C R Gnaneshwar and skipper M Hemanth Reddy took the score to 51 before Gnaneshwar was bowled by Amit Shukla for 28. Hemanth (13) too fell at the same score to leave Andhra in a delicate position.
However, Maheep and Yara Sandeep denied the Services bowlers as they began to rebuild the innings.
They added a crucial 70 runs for the fourth wicket off 115 balls to keep their team in the hunt. Sandeep fell for 22 but Maheep found another able partner in SDNV Prasad (19). They added another handy 43 off just 35 balls to put Andhra firmly in the driver’s seat.
Maheep remained unconquered on 68 off 87 balls with four boundaries and two sixes as Andhra scored 168 for five in 38.1 overs.
Maheep had a good day on the field too as he took four catches. He took home the Player of the Match award.
Earlier, Rajat Paliwal won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first but none of his batters, including himself, stayed long enough to put up a decent score on the board for team.
Openers Harsh Wardhan and Vineet Dhankar started cautiously but gave their side a decent platform to build on. They added 49 before Vineet (16) was caught by Satyanarayana Raju off Saketh Ram.
Two balls later, Ram had Harsha (23) caught by Maheep Kumar. Slowly but steadily, the Andhra bowlers pegged away at the Services batting. Wickets began to fall at regular intervals as the Services batters got starts but none of them built on it.
Vikas Hathwala (22), Abhishek (20), Nakul Sharma (27) had a good look at the bowling but when it mattered they succumbed. The Andhra bowlers did not give their rivals any leeway and ensure that their batters did not have a big score to chase.
Services were bowled out for 165 with M Hemanth Reddy taking three for 23 and Saketh Ram, who did the initial damage, finished with three for 38. Satyanarayana Raju chipped in with two wickets.
SCOREBOARD
Services: Harsh Wardhan c Maheep Kumar b Saketh Ram 23, Vineet Dhankhar c Raju b Saketh Ram 16, Irfan Ali c&b Vinay, Rajat Paliwal c Bharat b Raju 11, Vikas Hathwala c Maheep Kumar b Hemanth Reddy 22, Abhishek c Maheep Kumar b Saketh Ram 20, Nakul Sharma lbw Vijay 27, Pulkit Narang c Saketh b Hemanth 13, Amit Shukla c Maheep Kumar b Hemanth 0, PS Poonia c Bharat b Raju 7, N Yadav (not out) 0; Extras: (W14, LB3) 17. Total: (All out in 45 overs) 165.
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-50, 3-68, 4-73, 5-105, 6-125, 7-151, 8-155, 9-156.
Bowling: Satyanarayana Raju 8-1-302, Tripurana Vijay 10-1-33-1, Saketh Ram 8-0-38-3, B Munish Varma 3-0-15-0, Vinay 10-0-23-1, M Hemanth Reddy 6-1-23-3.
Andhra: CR Gnaneshwar b Shukla 28, KS Bharat b N Yadav 7, M Hemanth Reddy lbw Narang 13, K Maheep Kumar (not out) 68, Yara Sandeep c Poonia b Shukla 22, SDNV Prasad c Dhankhar b Abhishek 19, B Munish Varma (not out) 0; Extras: (W4, B1, LB6) 11. Total: (For 5 wickets in 38.1 overs) 168.
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-51, 3-51, 4-121, 5-164.
Bowling: N Yadav 6.1-1-28-1, PS Poonia 8-0-34-0, Pulkit Narang 8-1-18-1, Amit Shukla 10-1-40-2, Vineet Dhankhar 5-0-34-0, Abhishek 1-0-7-1.
