Pune, Dec 14 (PTI) Young Andhra batter Hemanth Reddy proved way too strong-willed in the face of some hostile bowling from Punjab as he smashed an unbeaten 109 to lead his side to a thrilling five-wicket win in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League A match, here Sunday.
Reddy, playing only his second career SMAT game, saw the entire Andhra top and middle order being wiped out and leaving them perilously close to defeat at 56 for 5 while chasing 206 for victory.
But the 23-year-old, who has played most of his cricket in the Andhra Premier League, came up with his career-best performance, blazing to a 53-ball 109, studded with 11 boundaries and seven sixes as Andhra reached 211/5 on the penultimate ball of the match.
Tall Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar (3/23) made life difficult for Andhra batters, removing openers Srikar Bharat (1) and Ashwin Hebbar (4) in the very first over, reducing the opponents to seven or two.
Brar, a former net bowler for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians who was bought for Rs 1.3 crore by Gujarat Titans ahead of the 2025 season, struck again in the fifth over by dismissing Andhra skipper Ricky Bhui (15).
In between, pacer Ayush Goyal also got the wicket of India all-rounder Nithish Kumar Reddy as Andhra reeled at 4/35, which quickly became 5/56 in the ninth over.
Needing someone who could really thwack the Punjab bowlers and also play a sensible innings, Reddy stepped up.
Coming in at No.3, Reddy, who last played a Ranji Trophy group match against Hyderabad without much success at the top of the batting order, negotiated the early overs with caution before blasting off even as he saw wickets crumbling at the other end.
He finally got a reliable partner in SD Prasad (53 not out off 35 balls) and the pair stitched together an unbeaten 155-run stand for the six wicket to guide Andhra home.
The thrilling win put Andhra’s campaign back on track following their four-wicket loss to Madhya Pradesh in a low-scoring match, while Punjab can say goodbye to their SMAT campaign this season after their six-wicket defeat against Jharkhand in a high-scoring game.
For Nitish Kumar, this was a second successive disappointing show after his 25 against Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier, Harnoor Singh (42) and skipper Prabhsimran Singh (20) gave Punjab a promising start. Anmolpreet Singh (47), Salil Arora (42) and Ramandeep Singh (43) then made useful contributions as Punjab managed a competitive 200-plus total.
Brief Scores: Punjab: 205 for 5 in 20 overs (Harnoor Singh 42, Anmolpreet Singh 47, Salil Arora 42, Ramandeep Singh 43).
Andhra: 211 for 5 in 19.5 overs (M Hemanth Reddy 109 not out, SDNV Prasad 53 not out; Gurnoor Brar 3/23). PTI AM AM AT AT
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