Ranji Trophy: Hanuma Vihari bats left-handed, helps Andhra reach 379 against MP

In an act of bravery Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari batted lefthanded and defied the speedy Avesh Khan to add 26 runs for the 10th wicket to help the team reach 379 against Madhya Pradesh on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here on WednesdayAndhra then reduced the defending champions to 144 for four at stumps to seize control of the matchSunny memoriesPreviously Sunil Gavaskar in a Ranji Trophy match in 1982 against Karnataka batted lefthanded to counter Raghuram Bhat a leftarm spinnerResuming at the overnight score of 262 for 2 things did not go Andhrarsquos way as the hardworking MP bowlers hit back after toiling hard during the massive 251run stand between Ricky Bhui 149 and Karan Shinde 110 Shinde reached his ton off 254 balls even as Bhui kept going to frustrate the home teamrsquos bowling attackEarlier the Madhya Pradesh innings got off to a solid start with opening batters Mantri and Yash Dubey putting on 42 runs KV Sasikanth 237 delivered the first strike for Andhra when he had Dubey caught by CR GnaneshwarGopal hits 103 not outMeanwhile riding on veteran allrounder Shreyas Gopalrsquos unbeaten 103 Karnataka took a massive 358run lead against Uttarakhand on Day Two of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match in Bangalore on WednesdayOn a day when runs flowed freely for the hosts skipper Mayank Agarwal 83 was involved in a 159run opening partnership with Ravikumar Samarth 82 before Devdutt Padikkal 69 and Nikin Jose 62 too scored half centuries as Karnataka ended the day at 474 for fiveAlso Read Tanush Kotian delighted to get Hanuma Vihari in both inningsPunjab openers shineIn the other match openers Prabhsimran Singh and Naman Dhir struck sparkling centuries to give Punjab the upper hand on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Saurashtra in Rajkot on WednesdayResuming the day at three for no loss in reply to Saurashtrarsquos first innings total of 303 all out Punjab were 327 for 5 from 91 overs at the close of second day for a lead of 24 runs with Prabhsimran and Naman scoring 126 and 131 runs respectivelyBengal take 65run leadIn Kolkata skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Gharami struck half centuries as Bengal took a slender first innings lead against Jharkhand on Wednesday After bowling Jharkhand out for 173 Bengal were 238 for 5 at the end of the second day with a crucial 65run first innings leadThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever