MADHYA Pradesh stole a stunning heist to advance to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy. Needing 170 to progress, Andhra began Day Four at 95/4. Skipper Hanuma Vihari, who would vow to never play for the side again in an extraordinary post-match missive on social media, and Karan Shinde took them to 112 before they collapsed.
They lost the next four wickets for 17 before Girinath Reddy and Ashwin Hebbar showed some resistance with a 32-run stand. But both of them fell when the finish line was in sight – the latter was dismissed when they were one hit away – to hand MP the win by the narrowest of margins. For them, Anubhav Agarwal came up trumps with a spell of 6/52 in 19 overs.
They will find out their semifinal opponents on Tuesday after Karnataka put themselves back in contention against Vidarbha. While they still have a mountain to climb, their Day Four has meant they have the tools to do so.
After their pacers did all the damage to bowl out the seasoned side (Vidwath Kaverappa and Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up all 10 wickets between them in the third innings), Mayank Agarwal and R Samarth set in pursuit of 371 in earnest fashion.