Bengal and Andhra realised there wouldn’t be an outright result and decided to shake hands as their Group B Ranji Trophy 2023-24 Round 1 fixture ended in a draw at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
The match ended at Tea break on day four with Bengal’s score at 82 for one, 46 runs ahead of Andhra. But it was the home team that eventually got three points after securing a 36-run lead in the first innings. Bengal got one point.
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With 70 runs adrift of Bengal’s first-innings score with four wickets in hand, overnight Andhra batters - Ricky Bhui and Shoaib Khan - began the day with the intention of going past Bengal’s 409.
Bhui paddle swept the ball, reached his 150, and gave Andhra the lead - all off the same delivery. Once the lead was secured, the batters began to switch gears and, in that process, Shoaib, who hit the ball straight to mid-off, perished.
Bengal then struck with the third new ball. All Bhui had to do was to go for his shots, and he ended up getting a thick outside edge straight to short-third and was out on 175, thus ending Andhra’s innings at 445.
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In the second essay, Bengal’s batters made merry of the flat conditions on offer. Even though Andhra did create some problems with the new ball, there was no trouble for the batters as the ball got old.
Shoaib provided a breakthrough as Sourav Paul - who scored 96 in the first innings - mistimed his sweep straight to the fine-leg fielder.
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