Ranji Trophy: Close contest on the cards as Andhra meets Hyderabad

Twelve years on from the split that created them, Andhra and Hyderabad still share a language, a cricketing culture and, more often than not, a way of playing the game. From Sunday, at the ACA Stadium, that familiarity will be put to the test when they face off in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group B contest at Mulapadu.

Andhra will be high on confidence after giving Karnataka a run for its money in the opening round. S.V. Rahul and Revanth Reddy were the stars, their 202-run stand giving it a first-innings lead, and with it three points. The pair then stood firm on the final day to snuff out Karnataka’s push for a win. With the ball, spinners T. Vijay, Lalith Mohan and Saurabh Kumar made merry, taking 15 of the 19 wickets that fell.

That will be music to Hyderabad’s ears, after its tweakers went one step further, scalping 17 wickets against Tripura. Aniketh Reddy’s fife-for saw Tripura collapse from 130 for four to 134 all out. Tanay Thyagarajan then took over, his six-wicket haul wrapping up the contest inside eight overs on day three.

With all due respect to Tripura, Andhra can take heart from the fact that its bowlers managed to stifle better quality batters. Hyderabad, meanwhile, will take notes from centurions R. Smaran and Karun Nair in dealing with the home side’s bowling threat.

Mohammed Siraj will lead Hyderabad before packing his bags for India’s tour of New Zealand and would want to leave with a second win as captain to his name. Andhra, on the other hand, will look to build on the good work under head coach Gary Stead, a partnership that resulted in a quarterfinal finish last year.

Scattered thunderstorms on the eve of the match adds another layer of intrigue to a clash that may well be defined by the smallest margins.