Vijay Merchant Trophy: Nitish scores unbeaten 190 to put Andhra in command

Hyderabad: Andhra’s K. Nitish Kumar hammered a big century to put his side in command on Day One against Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Merchant Trophy Under 16 cricket match being played at the NFC Grounds in Hyderabad. Electing to bat, Andhra lost their first wicket for 10. Later, Nitish and J. Surya Chaitanya stitched a brilliant 171-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by H. Prashid Akash after scoring 56. Skipper P. Subramanyam too failed to score big and went back to pavilion after making 38.

However, Nitish continued his fine stroke play throughout and hit boundaries at regular intervals to take his individual tally to 190 not out. In his 300-ball-stint, Nitish dispatched 25 boundaries and a six and was still at the crease with E. Dharani Kumar (27 not out) when stumps were drawn. Andhra finished the day on 320/3.

Meanwhile at the Gymkhana Grounds, Hyderabad bowled out for 266 against Kerala. Kiran Sagar and Abhi Biju picked three wickets each while Ilyan Sathani (56) and T. Rohan (51) scored half-centuries for the home side. Kerala were 8/1 in 5.2 overs by the end of first day’s play. In the other match at the ECIL Grounds, Goa finished the day at 166/4 in 98 overs against Karnataka.

BRIEF SCORES (DAY-1)

Hyderabad 266 in 87.5 overs (Y. Sai Varun 43, Ilyan Sathani 56, T. Rohan 51, Trishank Gupta 39, Kiran Sagar 3/54, Abhi Biju 3/54, V. S. Srinath 2/41) vs Kerala 8/1 in 5.2 overs.
Andhra 320/3 in 93 overs (K. Nitish Kumar Reddy batting 190 — 300b, 25x4, 1x6), Y. Surya Chaitanya 56, P. Subramanyam 38, E. Dharani Kumar batting 27) vs Tamil Nadu.
Goa 166/4 in 98 overs (Om Ramdas Madgaonkar 38, Kushal Hattangadi batting 33, Anush Deepak 38) vs Karnataka.