A captain’s knock by K Bhanu Sri Harsha helped Andhra take the vital 15-run first innings lead against Uttarakhand in their U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy Elite match at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Tuesday.
At stumps on the second day, Uttarakhand fell into further trouble as they were reduced to 15 for three in eight overs.
Gowtham Arya had Ananya Negi (3) caught by K Sushanth to get the first breakthrough and then Yalamanchili Lalit bagged two wickets. He got rid of Sanat Khurana (0) and Abhinav Baliyaxi (0) to put Uttarakhand on the backfoot.
Opener Aditya (4) and Kushagra Koranga (7) added 11 for the unbroken fourth wicket.
Earlier, Andhra openers KNV Kowshik and Hemant Royal gave their side a good start by adding 50 before Kowshik (16) fell. T Harsha Sai Sathvik (3) too perished leaving Andhra at 56 for two.
Then came the most fruitful partnership of the Andhra innings. Hemant was joined by his skipper Harsha and the duo steadied the innings with some sensible batting. They patiently wilted own the Uttarakhand attack and piled up the runs.
They added 119 for the third wicket off 169 balls with Harsha doing the bulk of the scoring. His contribution to the partnership was a whopping 73, while Hemanth made 46. Aarav Gupta broke the partnership when he bowled wicketkeeper Hemanth for 73 (126 balls; 8×4).
Nine runs later Harsha perished, caught by Udit Raturi off Aarav Gupta for 76 off 88 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
At 184 for four, Andhra were still far away from their rival’s total of 259. But K Gowtham Arya and Bhavesh Chamallamudi took up the challenge and added 58 for the fifth wicket before Arya fell for 36 (54 balls; 4×4) with the score reading 242.
There was huge drama, thereafter, as both sides fought grimly for the vital lead. Uttarakhand kept pegging back the Andhra progress. Andhra lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 257 for eight with Bhavesh (26; 70 balls, 2×4, 1×6) being the eight wicket to fall.
Andhra still needed three runs and Uttarakhand had to just take two wickets before it. P Shyam Dinesh (15) and Maganti Dhanwin (0) made sure that Andhra bagged the lead with a crucial 11-run partnership for the night wicket. All the 11 runs were scored by Shyam.
Andhra were bowled out for 272.
Abhimanyu took five for 83 and Aarav Gupta four for 106.
On the first day, Uttarakhand made 259 thanks to a fine 91 (232 balls; 9×4, 1×6) by Abhinav Baliyaxi. Ananya Negi (60) and skipper Abhimanyu (49 no) contributed well to the total. K Gowtham Arya took three for 54 for Andhra.
Brief scores: Uttarakhand 259 in 100.1 overs (Ananya Negi 60, Abhinav Baliyaxi 91, Abhimanyu 49; Y Lalit 2/39, K Gowtham Arya 3/54) & 15/3 in 8 overs (Y Lalit 2/14) vs Andhra 274 in 70.5 overs (Hemanth Royal 73, K Bhanu Sri Harsha 76, K Gowtham Arya 36, Bhavesh Chamallamudi 26; Abhimanyu 5/83, Aarav Gupta 4/106).
