Ranji Trophy Group B: TN secures three important points against Andhra; MP vs Punjab ends with a draw

Tamil Nadu's lower order helped the team secure the first innings lead and three important points against Andhra

On the final day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match on Friday; Tamil Nadu's lower order helped the team secure the first innings lead and three important points against Andhra. Tamil Nadu slipped to 208 for 7 and 214 for 8 before going past the line.

Andhra was 8 for no loss in the second innings.

Apart from B Aparajith (57, 184 balls, 6X4), knocks by J Kousik (33), batting at No.7 and R Sai Kishore (27 not out), batting at No.9, ensured that Tamil Nadu got three points from the drawn encounter.

Rain played spoilsport washing out proceedings on the third day yesterday.

Resuming at 122 for 3 in reply to Andhra's first innings score of 216, Aparajith and B Anirudh Sitaram (17) added 34 runs to set the tone in the quest for a lead.

Later, Aparajith and Kousik put on 43 runs before a mini collapse set back TN.

Sai Kishore and K Vignesh (10) added 39 runs to first help Tamil Nadu overhaul the rival score and also extend the lead.

Brief scores (End of Day 4):

Andhra 216 all out in 89.5 overs (Girinath Reddy 86 not out, Jyothisaikrishna 58, M Mohammed 4 for 70, T Natarajan 3 for 36, Sai Kishore 3 for 29) and 8 for no loss vs Tamil Nadu 254 all out 112.4 overs (B Aparajith 57, M Kaushik Gandhi 38, J Kousik 33, I Karthik Raman 3 for 52). Match drawn. Points: TN: 3, Andhra: 1.

At Indore: Punjab 293 all out in 84.4 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 124, Gurkeerat Mann 66, Kuldeep Sen 5 for 62, Avesh Khan 4 for 77) and 265 for 9 in 68 overs (Abhishek Sharma 78, Mandeep Singh 65 n.o, Jiwanjot Singh 39, Ishwar Pandey 4 for 59) vs Madhya Pradesh 315 all out in 124.2 overs (Rajat Patidar 73, Naman Ojha 51, Yash Dubey 65 not out, Mayank Markande 4 for 70) and 67 for 1 in 35 overs. Match drawn. Points: MP: 3, Punjab: 1.

At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 460 all out in 170.3 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 120, T Ravi Teja 115 not out, Himalay Agarwal 66, C V Milind 58, Gourav Kumar 3 for 50) vs Delhi 339 in 128.1 overs (Hiten Dalal 93, Nitish Rana 82, Lalit Yadav 77, Tanay Thyagarajan 5 for 77). Match drawn. Points: Hyderabad: 3, Delhi: 1.