PUNE: Seam bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy’s hat‑trick gave Andhra a glimmer of hope, but Madhya Pradesh recovered from 14/3 to chase down 113 and win by four wickets in their first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League stage at the DY Patil Academy on Friday.
Reddy, who joined the Andhra team after being in India’s squads for Tests and ODIs against South Africa, struck in the third over to dismiss Harsh Gawli, Harpreet Bhatia and Rajat Patidar in quick succession. Soon after Venkatesh Iyer’s dismissal left MP wobbling at 37/4.
But a composed 73‑run stand for the fifth wicket between Rishabh Chouhan and Rahul Batham steadied the chase. Chouhan made 47 off 43 balls with six fours, while Batham remained unbeaten on 35 off 32 deliveries to see MP home with 15 balls to spare and pick up four crucial points.
Previously, Reddy had added 50 runs for the third wicket with wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat after Andhra slipped to 7/2. Bharat top‑scored with 39 before being dismissed by Iyer, triggering a collapse that saw Andhra lose eight wickets for 55 runs and be bowled out for 112 in 19.1 overs.