Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 19 (Cricket News) Identical scores of 79 by skipper Ashok Menaria and Mahipal Lomror enabled Rajasthan set Andhra a stiff target of 368 in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match here on Saturday.

Andhra lost four wickets including that of captain K S Bharat to be 100 for 4 at stumps on the third day.

Resuming at 97 for 2 on the third day, Rajasthan batters Lomror and Garhwal (38) could add only 18 runs before the latter fell to Manish. Menaria who came in at the fall of Rajesh Bishnoi (0) put on 41 runs with Lomror.

Menaria hit six fours and three sixes as he kept the scoreboard ticking and helped swell the Rajasthan lead. He was dismissed by Y Sandep to leave the team at 272 for 8.

No.11 batter Aniket Choudhary smashed four boundaries in his 18-ball 23 to add to the woes of the Andhra bowlers.

Chasing 368 for a win, Andhra were dealt an early blow as Uppara Girinath fell for 1 to Aniket Chouhary (2/31).

Andhra lost three more wickets including that of skipper and star batter K S Bharat (6) and was 100 for 4 at stumps, needing another 268 runs to secure victory.

Brief scores: Stumps – Day 3: Services 176 all out in 78.4 overs and 204 all out in 83.5 overs (Hardik Sethi 56, Anshul Gupta 41, Dikshanshu Negi 3 for 22) vs Uttarakhand 248 all out in 79.2 overs (Kamal Singh 82, Dikshanshu Negi 69, Mayank Mishra 38, Arjun Sharma 3 for 31, Nitin Yadav 3 for 46) and 94 for 1 in 20 overs (Jay Bista 54 batting).

Rajasthan 275 all out in 59.2 overs and 316 all out in 92.2 overs (Mahipal Lomror 79, Ashok Menaria 79, Aditya Garhwal 38, K V Sasikanth 3/75) vs Andhra 224 all out in 86.2 overs (U M S Girinath 71, Sasikanth 34, Yara Sandeep 25, Aniket Choudhary 4 for 40, Shubham Sharma 3 for 69) and 100 for 4 in 28 overs (Ricky Bhui 31 batting). 

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News Source : PTI