Andhra make a cautious start

MSK Prasad's unbeaten half century helped Andhra Pradesh reach 112 for two after Services were all out for 296 in their first innings of the Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi on Sunday.

At stumps, India discard Prasad and talented Y Venugopla Rao (15) were in the crease as Andhra trail by 184 runs with eight wickets remaining in the first innings.

Resuming on their overnight score of 203 for four, Services lost wickets at regular intervals even though the batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking.

Jasvir Singh was unfortunate to miss a well-deserved ton after he was castled by Kalyankrishna at 92 that came off 196 balls with the help of 13 boundaries. Sarabjit Singh scored 58 before Lakshman Kishore bowled him.

In their reply, Andhra reached 29 when opener Amrinder Singh had opener TS Suman(13) but MSK Prasad and ASK Varma (29) put on 48 runs before the latter was trapped by Mohanti.

Prasad and Venugopal Rao then ensured there was no more damage to their side and played with caution till stumps.

Scorecard

Services 1st innings
Narender Singh c & b Faiq 27
MP Reddy c Rayudu b Faiq 33
SS Tomar lbw b Venugopal Rao 10
Yashpal Singh c Faiq b Lakshman Kishore 22
Jasvir Singh b Kalyankrishna 92
*+Sarabjit Singh b Lakshman Kishore 58
AK Mohanty c Prasad b Kalyankrishna 5
Amrinder Singh lbw b Faiq 26
A Sharma lbw b Lakshman Kishore 10
F Mohammed lbw b Sahabuddin 0
Pankaj Kumar not out 0
Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 2, nb 2) 13
Total (all out, 131.3 overs, 545 mins) 296

Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-72, 3-74, 4-110, 5-217, 6-223, 7-274, 8-295, 9-296, 10-296

Bowling: Sahabuddin 29 10 53 1 (2w), Kalyankrishna 24 9 47 2, Gnaneswara Rao 10 4 28 0, Faiq 36 6 84 3 (1nb), Venugopal Rao 10 0 35 1, Lakshman Kishore 19.3 5 32 3 (1nb), Singh 2 1 2 0, Rayudu 1 0 6 0

Andhra 1st innings
T Suman c Reddy b Amrinder Singh 13
MSK Prasad not out 51
A Varma lbw b Mohanty 29
Y Venugopal Rao not out 15
Extras (nb 4) 4
Total (2 wickets, 47 overs) 112

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-77

Bowling: Mohammed 7 1 29 0, Pankaj Kumar 5 2 12 0, Sharma 12 3 26 0 (4nb), Amrinder Singh 14 2 30 1, Mohanty 8 3 9 1, Yashpal Singh 1 0 6 0

UNI