Ranji Trophy 2022-23 QF: Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari bats one-handed but MP tighten grip on match on Day 3

Indore, Feb 2: Injured Andhra Pradesh captain Hanuma Vihari batted one-handed for the second time in succession but his valiant effort alone wasn't enough as defending champions Madhya Pradesh brought themselves in the driver's seat on day three of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals here at Holkar Stadium on Thursday (February 2).

Ranji Trophy 2023 MP vs AP Quarter Final

Chasing a winning target of 245, the hosts reached 58 for no loss at stumps after bundling out their opponents for 93 in their second innings, courtesy Avesh Khan's four-wicket haul.

Hanuma Vihari fractures his Wrist in Ranji Match, then comes out to bat Left-Handed: Watch

Braving the wrist injury, Vihari - in what was a repeat of the first innings when he returned to bat left-handed - batted left-handed to score 15 coming in at No.11.

Hanuma Vihari bats left-handed

He smashed three boundaries, including an insane reverse sweep but could not do much as the team collapsed to 93 all out in 32.3 overs.

"Do it for the team. Do it for the bunch. Never give up!! Thank you everyone for your wishes. Means a lot!" Vihari had tweeted on the second day.

Avesh Khan continues to impress with ball

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 144 for 4, MP were bowled out for 228 with left-arm medium-pacer Prithvi Raj Yarra picking up five wickets. Prithvi Raj added the scalps of Harsh Gawli (1), Saransh Jain (8), Avesh Khan (15) and Kumar Kartikeya (24, 4 fours) to finish with superb figures of 5 for 26.

Andhra batters collapse in second innings

The home team looked in danger of being dismissed below 200 before Kartikeya and Avesh stitched a 48-run stand for the ninth wicket to stretch the score to 228. With a big lead of 151, Andhra was expected to bat well in the second innings to put MP out of contention.

However, the MP bowlers ran through the visiting team's batting unit in just 32.3 overs. Avesh, bowling with a lot of fire and a big heart, set the tone by removing opener C R Gnaneshwar (1) in the second over, having him caught by Yash Dubey.

Fellow opening batter Abhishek Reddy (1) fell in the fourth over, trapped LBW. A 37-run stand for the third wicket between Nitish Kumar Reddy (14) and Ashwin Hebbar (35, 65 balls, 4x4s, 1x6) followed.

Once Gaurav Yadav (3/10) removed Nitish and Kumar Kartikeya (2/41) got the key wicket of Ricky Bhui (1), the centurion in the first innings, things went downhill for Andhra.

Confident start for MP in response

The MP bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and the Andhra innings ended at 93. Set a target of 245, the home team was 58 for no loss in 16 overs, requiring 187 more to advance to the semifinals.

Opening batters Yash Dubey (24 batting) and Himanshu Mantri (31 batting) got off to a solid start as MP looked to cap a splendid comeback, engineered by Avesh & Co.

Brief scores:

Andhra 379 all out in 127.1 overs (Ricky Bhui 149, Karan Shinde 110; Anubhav Agarwal 4/72) and 93 all out in 32.3 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 35; Avesh Khan 4/24, Gaurav Yadav 3/10) vs Madhya Pradesh 228 all out in 69.1 overs (Shubham Sharma 51, Aditya Srivastava 31; Y Prithvi Raj 5/26, K V Sasikanth 3/49) and 58 for no loss in 16 overs.

(With PTI inputs)