An unbroken 120 run stand for the fourth wicket between skipper Venugopala Rao and Gnaneshwara Rao helped hosts Andhra post a strong reply of 146 for 3 to Gujarat on the second day of the Elite 'A' Ranji Trophy league match at the Ukku stadium here today.

Resuming at 259 for 4, Gujarat were bowled out for 420 with Nilesh Modi cracking an unbeaten 72.

Salil Yadav (20) and L Patel (39) were the other contributors for Gujarat while speedster Kalyan Krishna claimed three wickets for Andhra.

Andhra reply started on a disastrous note as they lost three wickets with 26 runs on the board.

Skipper Venugopala Rao and Gnaneshwara Rao then steadied the innings.

Venugopala Rao made a typically stylish 66 with 11 fours while Gnaneshwara Rao dropped anchor to gather 54.

The hosts were still 274 runs behind Gujarat.

Scorecard:

Gujarat 1st innings:
H Joshipura c L N P Reddy b D K Krishna       12
A Christian lbw b D K Krishna                  9
N Patel run out                              118
K Damani lbw b Shahbuddin                     86
B Thanker c & b D K Krishna                   20
N Modi not out                                72
S Yadav b AG Praveen                          20
S Trivedi c Pradeep b Balaji                  17
H Majumdar c Pradeep b Balaji                 14
L Patel run out                               39
A Makda lbw b AG Praveen                       0
Extras (lb-2, nb-7, w-4)                      13
Total (all out in 128.5 overs)               420

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-42, 3-235, 4-241, 5-259, 6-302, 7-331, 8-347, 9-420.

Bowling: K S Shahabuddin 18-9-24-1, Kalyan Krishna 26-4-96-3, A G Praveen 13.5-0-72-2, Md Faiq 36-7-85-0, Venugopal Rao 11-1-48-0, Balaji Krishna Singh 21-0-78-2, A G Pradeep 1-0-9-0, Gnaneswar Rao 2-0-6-0.

Andhra 1st innings:
Manoj Sai lbw  b L Patel                          8
LNP Reddy b L Patel                              10
ASK Varma c (subs) b S Trivedi                    0
Y Venugopala Rao batting                         66
Y Gnaneswara Rao batting                         54
Extras (lb 1, nb 7)                               8
Total (for 3 in 48 overs)                       146

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-21, 3-26

Bowling: L Patel 11-1-35-2, S Trivedi 11-1-39-1, H Majumdar 7-2-18-0, Asraf Makada 7-2-17-0, S Yadav 8-0-31-0, K Damani 4-2-5-0.

Ranji Trophy 2004-05: Complete coverage