Andhra prevails over Tamil Nadu in a high-scoring thriller

On what was a batting beauty, TN captain J Kousik won the toss and opted to field. But the Andhra batsmen made all his plans go awry with 19-year-old opener Ashwin Hebbar scoring 140 (123b, 10x4, 7x6) and added 209 runs for the second wicket in the company of skipper Ricky Bhui who scored 123  (99b, 16x4, 3x6). 

Aware of the task awaiting their team, TN openers C Hari Nishaanth 97 (99b, 9x4, 2x6) and B Anirudh Sitaram 78 (71b, 8x4) laid a strong foundation of 151 runs before Sitaram was caught at deep midwicket. 

M Shahrukh Khan was run out soon after and in walked the skipper Kousik. What followed was absolute mayhem as he raced to a brilliant 115 off just 57 balls with 10 fours and seven sixes, of which two landed outside the ground. 

He was especially harsh on fast bowler M Harishankar Reddy who gave away 81 runs and as long as Kousik was in the middle, it looked like the seemingly insurmountable target was well within TN’s reach. With 53 runs needed from 30 balls, Kousik was caught at long on attempting another big hit. 

And with his wicket, TN’s hopes of pulling off a miracle went up in smoke. Kousik later rued that TN conceded 40 runs more and his team’s bowling in the middle overs needs some finetuning. 

“We should have bowled better but even after Andhra scored so many runs, we were confident of chasing it down as the ground is small and there was nothing in the pitch to assist the bowlers. Even though we lost, we are confident of doing well in the remaining matches starting with the one against Kerala on Monday,” said Kousik.