Indore, Feb 23 (PTI) Pacers KV Sasikanth and Nitish Kumar Reddy shared seven wickets between them as Andhra roared back in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal to leave host Madhya Pradesh reeling at 233 for nine on the opening day here Friday. Home openers Yash Dubey (64) and Himanshu Mantri (49) put on 123 runs for the first wicket at the Holkar Stadium but Andhra had gained complete control when the umpires called it time on the day’s play.

Sasikanth (4/37) and Nitish (3/50) were the wreckers-in-chief while their pace colleague Girinath Reddy also toiled through the day for his 1/40 to spark a collapse in the opposition ranks.

The initial exchanges, however, belonged to Madhya Pradesh for whom opener Dubey struck seven fours and a six to make a composite 64 from 133 balls.

Dubey added 123 runs at a fair click with Mantri (49 from 97 balls, 4x4s, 1x6s), who missed out on his personal milestone.

From 123/1 at one stage in the second session’s play, Madhya Pradesh collapsed to 227/9 despite Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain putting on 51 runs in between for the eighth wicket.

MP’s No. 3 Harsh Gawli perished for 17 to become Sasikanth’s second victim in the innings, while skipper Shubham Sharma (6) was trapped in front of the wickets by Nithish.

Venkatesh Iyer, the best batter for the hosts this season, was the next to be dismissed by Girinath. Anubhav Agarwal (0) and Avesh Khan (7) also failed to trouble the scorers.

Jain was unbeaten on 41 from 108 balls with the help of three fours and a six at stumps, whereas Kartikeya did his part to help take MP past the 200-run mark while scoring 29 off 79 balls with two fours.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 234/9 in 81 overs (Yash Dubey 64, Himanshu Mantri 49, Saransh Jain 41 batting; Nithish Kumar Reddy 3/50, KV Sasikanth 4/37) vs Andhra.

Source: PTI News