J&K on top, eye outright win over Andhra Pradesh

Anantapur: Jammu and Kashmir produced a lethal bowling performance to stand on the verge of an outright win after reducing Andhra Pradesh to 79 for eight in their second innings at the end of third and penultimate day`s play in a Group C Ranji Trophy match, here on Saturday.

With a fresh morning pitch on offer for J&K bowlers on the final day tomorrow, it will be a difficult task for Andhra to turn the match araound as they still need 63 runs for a win with just two wickets in hand. For Andhra, M Suresh was batting on 27 off 49 balls, while giving him company was Kakani Harish (1). Medium pacers Ram Dayal (3/24) and Mohammed Mushasir (3/10) wrecked havoc with the ball for J&K, sharing six wickets between them. Earlier, Andhra were bowled out for 205 in their first innings in reply to J&K`s 225 after the hosts resumed the day at 191 for eight. Then Andhra bowlers came up with a splendid display to bundle out J&K for just 121 in their second essay to set up the platform for an easy outright win for the hosts. Pacer David Paidikalva Vijaykumar (5/52) and off-spinner Shaik Basha (3/27) were the chief tormentor as J&K batting line-up crumbled like a pack of cards. If someone thought the script is predictable from here, there were in for a surprise. Needing just 142 runs for a win with over one-and-a-half day`s play remaining, Andhra batsmen committed hara-kiri to find themselves in a tight corner at 79 for eight at stumps. Brief Scores: Jammu & Kashmir: 225 & 121 all out in 41.2 overs (Adil Rishi 25, Parvez Rasool 25; David Paidikalva Vijaykumar 5/52, Shaik Basha 3/27). Andhra Pradesh: 191 & 79 for eight in 31 overs (M Suresh 27 not out; Mohammed Mudhasir 3/10, Ram Dayal 3/24).