An unbeaten 132 by skipper Dinesh Mongia enabled Punjab post 316 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Andhra in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
In reply, the hosts were 79 for two at the end of day two.
Resuming at the overnight score of 190 for four, Punjab started on a shaky note with wickets tumbling at one end, while Mongia resolutely picked up runs to boost the team score.
The Punjab innings came to an end an hour after lunch as the other batsmen failed to make any significant contribution. Only Rajesh Sharma cracked a quick 22 with three hits to the fence.
Mongia remained unbeaten on 132 in his 276-ball essay, hitting 14 boundaries as the team coasted to a formidable total in the first innings on a wicket, which has slowed down considerably.
The Andhra openers -- M S K Prasad and Tirumal Suman got off to a cautious start, before the latter was dismissed by Mongia for 10.
Gagandeep Singh trapped newcomer A Kumar Swamy for 15 as the experienced Prasad held one end up scoring 26 runs off 104 balls when play ended.
Giving him company was Andhra skipper Y Venugopal Rao on 13 with one boundary as the score reached 79 for two.
Scorecard:
Punjab 1st innings (Overnight score: 190-4)
R Ricky b Kishore 29
U Kaul c Rayudu b Faiq 32
P Dharmani lbw b Faiq 46
R Sodhi c Venugopal Rao b Verma 19
D Mongia not out 132
G Gupta lbw b Kalyankrishna 1
B Sharma c Prasad b Sahabuddin 10
I Malhatra run out (Kumarswamy) 0
Gagandeep Singh lbw b Kishore 1
R Sharma lbw b Verma 22
L Ablash b Sahabuddin 4
Extras (b 10, lb 1, w 2, nb 7) 20
Total (all out in 136.4 overs) 316
Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-65, 3-99, 4-190, 5-196, 6-219, 7-219, 8-246, 9-311, 10-316.
Bowling: K Sahabuddin 27.4-4-79-2, D Kalyankrishna 12-3-35-1, V Verma 14-2-30-2, L Kishore 38-14-58-2, Y Gnaneswara Rao 3-2-2-0, M Faiq 35-9-72-2, Venugopal Rao 7-1-29-0.
Andhra 1st innings:
T Suman c Rajesh Sharma b Mongia 10
MSK Prasad not out 26
K Kumarswamy lbw b Gagandeep Singh 15
Y Venugopal Rao not out 13
Extras (b 7, lb 6, nb 2) 15
Total (for 2 wickets in 38 overs) 79
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-50.
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 10-5-11-1, L Ablash 11-2-22-0, D Mongia 11-4-17-1, R Sharma 4-0-11-0, B Sharma 2-0-5-0.
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