When they collapsed to 159 for eight in the final session on Day 1, Andhra seemed to cave in against mighty Mumbai in their opening 2022-23 Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Dr PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex in Vizianagaram on Tuesday.
And then, they discovered a hero from nowhere. A gallant, counterattacking 84-run knock (99b, 12x4, 3x6) by Shoaib Mohammed Khan, and his 73-run partnership in 96 balls for the eighth wicket with Bandaru Ayyappa (15) led the hosts' superb fightback and helped them finish at a respectable 238. Khan's innings deserves more praise as those present at the ground said that the wicket wasn't easy to bat on.
Off-spinning allrounder Tanush Kotian finished with 4 for 91, but Mumbai were left to rue the fact they couldn't close out the Andhra innings much earlier then they should have.
To make things worse, the visitors lost the key wicket of Prithvi Shaw (13) in the ninth over. At stump s, the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal (7 off 37 balls), and Armaan Jaffer were at the crease, with the visitors going into Day 2 at 25 for 1.
Kotian took the wickets of Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihar i (27, 71b, 4x4), Ricky Bhui(19), Karan Shinde (14) and KV Sasikanth (9) to leave Andhra on the mat. The only shining light in the top-order for Andhra was keeper-bat and opener UMS Girinath, who made a patient 45 (143b, 5x4).
After electing to field first, Mumbai were boosted by the early strikes of seamer Mohit Avasthi, as he removed opener C R Gnaneshwar (6) and Shaik Rasheed (2) to reduce Andhra to 12 for 2 in the 6th over. Girinath and Vihari, bidding to make a comeback after being dropped for the Bangladesh Tests, added 75 for the third wicket, before Vihari was caught by Hardik Tamore off Kotian.
Last year's highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, left-arm spinning allrounder Shams Mulani then opened his account this season, scalping Nithish Kumar Reddy (2).
Brief scores: Andhra 238 in 74. 4 overs (Girinath 45, Vihari 27, S Khan 84; T Kotian 4-91, S Mulani 2-59, M Avasthi 2-39) vs Mumbai 25-1 in 13 overs
