Allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy’s position in the Indian team has been hotly debated recently. On Friday, during the Ranji Trophy Group A match against Vidarbha, Reddy failed to make the most of his start
for Andhra after being out for 35 off 48. Vidarbha, having secured a crucial first-innings lead of 67 runs by bowling out Andhra for 228, were 4 for no loss at stumps on the second day.
The defending champions led by 71 runs at the close of play, resuming from their overnight score of 267 for seven and finishing their first innings at 295.
Walking in with Andhra struggling at 118 for five, Reddy, after being released from the India squad following the recent ODI series against New Zealand, managed to score 35 off 48 balls before being dismissed. His departure worsened Andhra’s situation, reducing them to 166 for seven, still far from Vidarbha’s total. Notable contributions came from Saurabh Kumar, who scored 62 at number eight, and opener Abhishek Reddy, who made 73.
Vidarbha’s bowlers shared the spoils with Darshan Nalkande, Nachiket Bhute, Aditya Thakare, and Parth Rekhade each taking two wickets. Earlier in the day, pacer Kalidindi Raju’s 5/62 helped keep Vidarbha’s first-innings total under 300, with middle-order batter Yash Rathod contributing a fine 115 off 191 balls.
Brief Scores
Vidarbha 295 all out in 89.3 overs (Yash Rathod 115; Kalidindi Raju 5/62) and 4/0 in 2 overs vs Andhra 228 all out in 65.3 overs (Abhishek Reddy 73, Saurabh Kumar 62).
At Bhubaneswar: Tamil Nadu 286 all out in 86 overs and 26/1 in 17 overs vs Odisha 148 all out in 51.2 overs (Anil Paida 56; Sonu Yadav 5/30).
At Lucknow: Jharkhand 1st innings 561/6 declared in 151.5 overs (Sharandeep Singh 139, Kumar Kushagra 102) vs Uttar Pradesh 1st innings 32/3 in 11 overs (Jatin Pandey 2/14).
At Vadodara: Nagaland 206 and 141 all out in 34.3 overs (Mahesh Pithiya 3/53, Atit Sheth 3/31) lost to Baroda 353 all out in 89.3 overs (Shivalik Sharma 80; Imliwati Lemtur 4/100) by an innings and 6 runs.
