CHENNAI: Riding high on Prithvi Raj Yarra's 4/46, Andhra bundled out Tamil Nadu for 182 in 74.3 overs in their first essay in a Elite Group A Ranji trophy fixture played at Visakhapatnam on Saturday. In reply, Andhra were 20 for 1 in 6 overs when stumps were drawn.
Tamil Nadu were once again, exposed, with the top order collapsing to some disciplined bowling by the Andhra bowlers.
Top order batters N Jagadeesan, Sachin B and Vimal Khumar contributed little to Tamil Nadu's cause, as they got dismissed early.
Vimal was the first to go as KS Raju accounted for the in-form opener.
Next Jagadeesan was run out in a mix up with Sachin. Now a lot depended upon the new man in Pradosh Ranjan Paul.
Pradosh who has led Tamil Nadu in the past has played several utility knocks under pressure. But that was not to be. He fell to an angled delivery from Yarra. The left-arm medium pacer too scalped Andre Siddarth's wicket before the talented youngster could open his account.
By lunch, six wickets had fallen and the visitors were in deep trouble. Within 41 overs Tamil Nadu found themselves at 103/9.
It was the last wicket pair of debutant P Vidyuth (40) and Sandeep Warrier (20 n.o) who raised 79 runs to help the visitors post 182.
"Just did not do any thing big. Just applied myself and played to the merit of the ball," Vidyuth told The New Indian Express after his valuable innings.
"Myself and Warrier discussed to play as long as possible and not worry about scoring runs. We knew that if we play for while runs will come automatically," he added.
The Buchi Babu tournament before Ranji was a good preparation for many teams in the country and Vidyuth who featured in one of the TNCA teams benefitted from it.
"This was my first game and obviously First Class cricket is different from the games I have played so far. But what helped me was the Buchi Babu tournament where I got to play against some quality teams. This came in handy," insisted Vidyuth.
The wicket helped both the seamers sand spinners and should a lot truer on Sunday.
"The wicket was not that dangerous to play. If you are watchful you can hang around. Bounce was not that consistent, with the odd one keeping low, but not unplayable as such," he signed off.
Tamil Nadu will be keen to make amends on Sunday, by trying not to concede the first innings lead.