Shaik Rasheed and Karan Shinde led Andhra’s fightback on the penultimate day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match against Punjab at Ground A of the PCA International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Wednesday.
At stumps on the third day, Andhra were 240 for two in 87 overs and still trail Punjab by 352 runs with eight wickets in hand.
Resuming at their overnight score of 20 for no loss, Andhra suffered an early setback as they lost wicketkeeper Revanth Reddy, who failed to add to his overnight score of three.
Revanth was caught by Vihaan Malhotra off Gursimran Singh and Punjab were looking to make further inroads in the Andhra innings.
However, opener CR Gnaneshwar and Shaik Rasheed kept the Punjab bowlers at bay as they steadily rebuilt the innings.
They added 51 for the second wicket off 100 balls with Gnaneshwar doing the bulk of the scoring. He contributed 33 off 47 balls, while Rasheed made 18 off 53 balls.
Sanvir hits double century and Emanjot gets a ton as Punjab grind Andhra attack to dust
Punjab struck when Harpreet Brar had Gnaneshwar caught behind by Prabhsimran Singh for one short of a half-century. Gnaneshwar’s 49 came off 76 balls with eight fours.
At 71 for two, things were not too rosy for Andhra, but Rasheed and Karan Shinde took charge of the proceedings and started dictating terms to the Punjab bowlers.
Shaik Rasheed, who had begun sedately, started playing his shots once he got his eye in. Karan, on the other hand, was more than happy to play the role of a foil.
Both the Andhra batters slowly but steadily added runs to the total. They have already scored 169 off 368 balls to lay the foundation for the huge chase.
Karan contributed 73 off 198 balls, while Rasheed made 92 off 170 balls.
Rasheed was on 110 off 223 balls with 12 fours and Karan was on 73 with seven fours and two sixes.
Brief scores: Punjab 592 for nine declared in 156 overs vs Andhra 240 for two in 87 overs (CR Gnaneshwar 49, Shaik Rasheed 110 batting, Karan Shinde 73 batting).
