Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu survive a scare against Andhra

CHENNAI: The result of the Ranji Trophy Group C clash between Andhra and Tamil Nadu was decided in the last over of the contest. The drawn encounter - which saw Andhra pocket 3 points thanks to their first innings lead over Tamil Nadu - saw the Hanuma Vihari-led side go for broke in their chase of 218 from the final 42 overs on Monday. The final session on Day 4 witnessed a lot of drama and nail-biting moments, and Andhra - despite finishing 19 short (198-7) - were successful in unsettling the home team bowlers.
While star offie R Ashwin (16-1-92-2) bore the brunt of Andhra batsmen's belligerence, K Vignesh (7.4-0-34-3) and Rahil Shah (11-2-46-2) appeared more effective given the situation.Tamil Nadu at one stage had no option but to make nine of their fielders man the fence in their bid to defend 68 runs off the last 46 balls. Despite Ashwin picking two crucial breakthroughs towards the end, it was not before Andhra batters - Ricky Bhui (40, 1x4, 3x6) and Ashwin Hebbar (20, 2x6) - had taken on the ace offie gallantly and kept depositing him over long on for a few sixes.
But it was pacer Vignesh who rose to the occasion, and choked the Andhra batsmen. The 23-year-old Vignesh delivered wide Yorkers with fielders at deep backward-point, sweeper and a wide long-off that cut down the boundary scoring options for Andhra. K Vignesh conceded just two runs in the 40th over and even got the key wicket of B Sumanth (25, 2x4) - caught by keeper Jagadeesan - as the equation bowled down to 31 needed off the last 15. If that wasn't enough, K Vignesh bowled the final over with Andhra needing 20 to cross the line. He had Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari (12, 1x6) caught at long-on by Washington Sundar that shut the doors on them and the two teams decided to call off play. For Andhra, opener Srikar Bharat (64, 5x4, 2x6) was the top-scorer.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu declared their second innings at 350 for 6 in the second session. Having started the day on 112 for 2, Tamil Nadu added 238 to their team total from 51 overs. Baba Aparajith (108 n.o., 10x4) - who hit his 6th first-class century - and skipper Abhinav Mukund (95, 7x4) led the show while Murali Vijay (55, 4x4, 1x6) - who batted after suffering a ankle strain on Day 3 - too looked fluent in his 93-ball knock. Abhinav and Aparajith, who added 113 runs for the third wicket, showed a lot more purpose and urgency to keep the scoreboard ticking. Abhinav's 200-ball innings concluded when he was caught by Ayyappa at deep mid-wicket region as Tamil Nadu were 192 for 3. R Ashwin (15, 2x4) was the next to depart, thanks to a brilliant running catch by Ayyappa in the fine-leg fence. Both Washington Sundar (20, 3x4) and Jagadeesan (20 n.o., 2x4, 1x6) played cameos but it was Vijay who entertained the sparse crowd with some fine shots.
Scoreboard:
Tamil Nadu 1st innings 176
Andhra 1st Innings 309
Tamil Nadu 2nd innings (O/N 112-2): A Mukund c Ayyappa b Bhatt 95, M Vijay c Ashwin Hebbar b Prasanth 55, KM Gandhi c Bharat b Prithvi Raj 7, B Indrajith c Bharat b Bhatt 16, B Aparajith n.o. 108, R Ashwin c Ayyappa b Prithvi Raj 15, Washington Sundar c Bhui b Prithvi Raj 20, N Jagadeesan n.o. 20; Extras (b3, lb2, nb2, w2, pen5) 14; Total (For 6 wickets in 105 overs): 350; FoW: 1-39, 2-79, 3-192, 4-220, 5-253, 6-325; Bowling: Ayyappa 24-7-58-0, Prithvi Raj 20-2-61-3, Bhatt 37-2-123-2, Shoaib 19-2-65-0, Ashwin Hebbar 2-0-8-0, Prasanth 3-0-25-1
Andhra (Target: 218): DB Prasanth c&b Shah 33, KS Bharat b Shah 64, RK Bhui c Aparajith b K Vignesh 40, B Sumanth c Jagadeesan b K Vignesh 25, K Ashwin Hebbar b Ashwin 20, H Vihari c Washington b K Vignesh 13, B Ayyappa c Aparajith b Ashwin 0, B Bhatt n.o. 0, Shoaib Md Khan n.o. 0; Extras (b2, lb1) 3; Total (For 7 wickets in 41.4 overs): 198; FoW: 1-85, 2-114, 3-161, 4-185, 5-187, 6-189, 7-198; Bowling: K Vignesh 7.4-0-34-3, Ashwin 16-1-92-2, Rahil 11-2-46-2, Washington 6-1-15-0, L Vignesh 1-0-8-0