Kaul slams ton as Punjab take first innings lead over Andhra

Amritsar, Nov 5 (UNI) Riding on Uday Kaul's century (144), Punjab gained a vital 38-run first innings lead over Andhra Pradesh on the third day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League group 'B' match at the Gandhi Grounds here today.

Kaul's 144 came in 523 minutes off 384 balls and was studded with 14 hits to the fence. It was Kaul's partnership of 181 runs for the fourth wicket with his skipper Pankaj Dharmani (94) which lifted Punjab out of the doldrums and helped the hosts gain a first innings lead.

Dharmani's knock of 94 came in 341 minutes, off 259 balls and contained 12 boundaries. The duo came together yesterday after their team was reeling at 56 for three.

The hosts finished the day at 372 for nine with Gagandeep not out on 15 and S Ladda batting on zero. The hosts are expected to declare their innings tomorrow morning as the new ball will take a lot of swing due to the morning dew on the wicket.

Punjab resumed today at 173 for three with Kaul on 79 and Dharmani batting on 63. The Andhra bowlers failed to ruffle the two batsmen as they went about scoring runs and picking the loose deliveries for boundaries.

Dharmani departed soon after lunch when the team score was reading 237. He fell leg before to Mohammed Faiq. Eleven runs later C Madan (2) departed caught by Parmod off the bowling of Raju.

Thereafter, Kaul and Ankur Kakkar (48) were associated in a valuable 59 runs stand that saw the hosts inch closer to Andhra's first innings total of 334.

Kaul was unlucky to be run out at the team score of 307.

Later M Gony ( 7) and Kakkar fell to Shankara Rao and Watekar respectively. For Andhra I Raju picked up three wickets, while Shankara Rao took two. Mohammed Faiq, Watekar and Kalyan Krishna picked up a wicket each.

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