Ranji Trophy: Rasheed anchors Andhra’s innings while Warrier, Sachin ensure TN remains in control
A dropped catch, a missed run out, and some thrill-a-minute cricket later, pacer Sonu Yadav cleaned up No. 11 Kavuri Saiteja (two off seven balls) for Tamil Nadu to snatch a slender five-run first-innings lead over Andhra on the second day of their Elite Group-A fourth-round Ranji Trophy match at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu eventually ended the day with a 107-run lead, with B. Sachin (51, 81b, 8×4) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (26 n.o., 45b, 3×4) stitching together a 69-run stand for the third wicket.
After pacer Sandeep Warrier (four for 53) castled both Saurabh Kumar (30, 26b, 3×4) and Prithvi Raj Yarra (duck) in the space of four balls, Andhra was left reeling at 143 for nine.
Desperation gripped both sides: Andhra needed 40 runs to claim the first-innings lead, while Tamil Nadu had to strike before that.
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Shaik Rasheed (87 n.o., 150b, 8×4, 2×6), desperate to take a single off the last ball of an over, edged and was dropped at slip by Baba Indrajith on 71 off left-arm spinner Sai Kishore.
Andhra was 18 runs short then.
Desperate again to regain strike on the first ball of another over, Rasheed bolted across and Saiteja responded late, but the fielder at point missed the throw at the non-striker’s end.
An innings of contrasting parts
Rasheed played an innings of two contrasting parts. Playing the ball late and often square, he was compact even as wickets tumbled at the other end. Then, he showcased clean hitting during the last-wicket stand.
Even with the field spread, he slog-swept a six over midwicket, and when it was brought in, he smacked a four to long off in the same over off Warrier.
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He sneaked a four between the deep cover and deep extra cover fielders, and tonked a six over six in the same over off Sai Kishore.
At Stumps, Tamil Nadu remained comfortably ahead of Andhra, with Sachin, en route to his maiden first-class fifty, crisply playing cover drives for four boundaries off the pacers.
The scores (fourth round): Elite-A (day two):
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 182.
Andhra — 1st innings: Abhishek Reddy lbw b Warrier 3, K.S. Bharat b Trilok 12, Tripurana Vijay b Trilok 3, Shaik Rasheed (not out) 87, Ricky Bhui c Jagadeesan b Warrier 4, Karan Shinde c Jagadeesan b Sonu 9, Ashwin Hebbar c Paul b Sai Kishore 13, K.S. Raju c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 1, Saurabh Kumar b Warrier 30, Prithvi Raj Yarra b Warrier 0, K. Saiteja b Sonu 2; Extras (b-5, lb-8): 13; Total (all out in 49 overs): 177.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-20, 3-28, 4-45, 5-63, 6-98, 7-100, 8-143, 9-143, 10-177.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Warrier 16-1-53-4, Trilok 11-2-50-2, R. Sonu Yadav 10-3-20-2, R. Sai Kishore 11-0-38-2, P. Vidyuth 1-0-3-0.
Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: R. Vimal Khumar c K.S. Bharat b K.S. Raju 20, N. Jagadeesan c Bhui b Prithvi Raj 0, B. Sachin run out 51, Pradosh Ranjan Paul (not out) 26, R. Sai Kishore (not out) 0; Extras (w-1, b-4): 5; Total (for 3 wkts in 29 overs): 102.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-32, 3-101.
Andhra bowling: Prithvi Raj 7-0-16-1, Saiteja 7-2-20-0, K.S. Raju 5-0-30-1, Hebbar 5-1-20-0, Vijay 2-1-4-0, Saurabh 3-0-8-0.
Published on Nov 09, 2025
