Ranji Trophy: Assam take on Andhra in Elite group B from today

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: Assam will take on Andhra in an Elite group B Ranji Trophy tie from Thursday. The four-day match will be held at Dibrugarh.

It will be the third match for both the teams in the competition this season.  Assam earned only one point and are placed in seventh place in the points table. On the other hand, Andhra  collected three points from their previous two outings and are at sixth place.

The points table revealed that both the teams are yet to deliver their best in this season. Andhra in their first game drew against Bengal but they managed to earn a first innings lead. However in the second game Mumbai thrashed them by 10 wickets. On the other hand, Assam suffered defeat in their first game against Chhattisgarh and drew against Kerala in their second outing held in the ctiy.

However good news for Assam is that captain Riyan Parag is in good form and already scored two centuries. Rohan Hazarika also got a century against Kerala in the second innings. However Assam need similar performance from the other batters also if they want to elevate themselves in the points table.

Meanwhile Assam are ahead against Andhra when it comes to the last five face to face encounters. Assam won two games and Andhra won one. The other two matches ended as a draw. Swarupam Purkayastha, who returned to the Assam squad in this game, played a crucial role in Assam victory in 2015. He scored century (108 no) in the first innings and also picked up six wickets in the match.

The other match Assam won against Andhra was in 2009 which was the Plate Group semi final. Dhiraj Jadav (165) scored an unbeaten ton. Arlen Konwar picked up seven wickets in the tie and Sairaj Bahutule collected six wickets in the second innings.

Also Read: Assam: Ranji Trophy Match concludes as Hazarika's Century Prevents Kerala from Securing Victory

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