The Hindu : Sankar, Shabuddin simply superb

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 27, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Sankar, Shabuddin simply superb

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA Nov. 26. G. Sankar Rao's last spell (3-0-5-3) spelt doom for Kerala, as the visiting side collapsed at 354, conceding a 104-run first innings lead to Andhra in the fifth mandatory over on the concluding day of their Elite A match. Andhra now has six points against Kerala's two.

Faced with an uphill task, the home side attack toiled on a track that had little to offer. The day's first casualty was Kerala skipper Sunil Oasis, beaten by a Shabuddin delivery that cut in sharply and pegged back his off-stump.

Hemanth Kumar held on, but less than half an hour after lunch, he top-edged an attempted square drive into M.S.K. Prasad's gloves. The strapping southpaw's 94 was studded with nine boundaries and lasted nearly six and a quarter hours. Sreekumar Nair was next out, snapped up at silly point by I. Srinivas off Sankar.

Ajay Kudua was left the lone ranger, as support from the other end dried up. After left arm tweaker Sankar tasted blood, he moved in for the kill, trapping M. Suresh Kumar lbw first. The mode of dismissal was similar for Sony Cheruvathore and Tinu Yohannan, but off successive balls.

Andhra skipper M.S.K. Prasad said the gameplan had been to restrict the Kerala scoring to a rate of about 10 runs every five overs. That plan was executed to perfection, if one goes by the Kerala total of 354 in 177 overs.

The bowlers had done admirably, he said when acknowledging the effort put into training by coach Meher Baba, a former Ranji spinner himself. As for the lynchpin of the Andhra attack, Shabuddin's showing was nothing short of lion-hearted. This will be one Id he'll cherish for long.

Brief scores: Andhra 458 for seven declared drew with Kerala 354 (Sujith Somasunder 40, K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan 47, Hemanth Kumar 94, Sunil Oasis 51, Ajay Kudua not out 39; K.S. Shabuddin four for 94, G. Sankar Rao four for 54).

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