Axar Patel’s all-round show and Ravi Bishnoi’s three-wicket haul consigned Andhra to their fourth loss from five games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Gujarat scored a narrow seven runs victory in a thrilling game at the Alur Cricket Stadium III in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Axar scored 130 to steer Gujarat to a competitive 318 for nine. He then returned to take two wickets and Bishnoi grabbed three as Andhra, despite opener CR Gnaneshwar’s century, fell short of the target by a mere seven runs.
Andhra skipper Nitish Kumar Reddy won the toss and asked Gujarat to bat first. The move paid off as Gujarat lost their way early in the innings. Satyanarayana Raju struck the first blow when he had Urvil Patel (0) caught by keeper KS Bharat in the second over of the innings. Things got worse for Gujarat as they lost Aarya Desai (8) and Ahaan Poddar (13) to Nitish. At 29 for three, things looked bad for Gujarat, but Jaymeet Patel (29) and Axar Patel steadied the rocking boat with a 51-run partnership before Jaymeet was bowled by Saketh Ram.
Saurav Chauhan (6) didn’t last long, and it was left to Axar and new man Vishal Jayswal to salvage the position. The duo added 142 for the sixth wicket to rescue Gujarat. They got those runs in 117 balls with Vishal contributing a 60-ball 70 and Axar making a 57-ball 71.
Axar fell at 266 after scoring 130 which came of 111 balls and contained 10 fours and five sixes. Ravi Bishnoi then struck two fours and a six in his 20-ball unbeaten 31 to help Gujarat reach 318 for nine.
Andhra, on the other hand, had a solid opening partnership with Gnaneshwar and Bharat adding 71 before Bharat fell for 39 which came off 42 balls and had six fours and a six. But, thereafter, Andhra could not find a solid partnership. There were plenty of starts but nothing to help them cross the Gujarat total.
Gnaneshwar was the fifth batter to get out after he made 102 off 125 balls with nine fours and three sixes. SDNV Prasad made an unbeaten 48 off 26 balls with six fours and three sixes and shared a 49-run partnership with Yara Sandeep (15) seventh wicket and then added 30 for the unbroken eighth wicket with Saketh Ram (15) but all their efforts were not sufficient to emerge victorious.
SCOREBOARD
Gujarat: Aarya Desai c Bharat b Nitish 8, Urvil Patel c Bharat b Raju 0, Ahaan Poddar c Hemanth b Nitish 13, Jaymeet Patel b Saketh Ram 29, Axar Patel c Nitish b Anjaneyulu 130, Saurav Chauhan c Bharat b Raju 6, Vishal Jayswal c Nitish b Raju 70, Chintan Gaja b Anjaneyulu 12, Ravi Bishnoi (not out) 31, Japagnya Bhatt b Raju 14, Arzan Nagwaswalla (not out) 1; Extras: (W4) 4. Total: (For nine wickets in 50 overs) 318.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-14, 3-29, 4-80, 5-99, 6-241, 7-266, 8-282, 9-309.
Bowling: Nitish Kumar Reddy 10-0-65-2, Satyanarayana Raju 10-0-53-4, Yara Sandeep 10-0-46-0, Jagarlapudi RAm 10-0-59-1, Midde Anjaneyulu 5-0-45-2, M Hemanth Reddy 5-0-50-0.
Andhra: CR Gnaneshwar b Bishnoi 102, KS Bharat b Patel 39, Sai Sandeep lbw Bishnoi 12, Marthala Dhanush c Poddar b Bishnoi 30, M Hemanth Reddy c Desai b Patel 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy c Chauhan b Nagwaswalla 25, SDNV Prasad (not out) 48, Yara Sandeep c U Patel b Nagwaswalla 16, Jagarlapudi Ram (not out) 15; Extras: (B1, W6) 7. Total: (For seven wickets in 50 overs) 311.
Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-100, 3-151, 4-190, 5-232, 6-232, 7-281.
Bowling: Chintan Gaja 6-0-42-0, Arzan Nagwaswalla 10-0-69-2, Japagnya Bhatt 9-1-61-0, Axar Patel 6-0-27-2, Vishal Jayswal 10-0-47-0, Ravi Bishnoi 9-0-64-3.
