A painstaking unbeaten 72 by opener L N Prasad Reddy and his 68-run second wicket stand with A S K Varma (35) guided Andhra Pradesh to 170 for 4 on the opening day of their four-day Super League Ranji Trophy Group 'A' cricket match against former champions Baroda at the Motibaug Palace ground in Baroda on Sunday.

Baroda skipper Jacob Martin's gamble to put Venugopal Rao-led Andhra in to bat after winning the toss backfired as the three medium pacers -- Rakesh Patel, Irfan Pathan [Images] (Sr) and Murtguja Vohra failed to capitalise on the morning dew.

Batting cautiously, Andhra, who were comfortably placed at 170 for three in 89 overs, losing one wicket each in three sessions, were four down in the very last over of the day as Y Gnaneswar Rao (28) was adjudged lbw to a Rakesh Patel delivery.

Together with opener Reddy, Rao added 46 runs for the fourth wicket stand, which lasted for 82 minutes.

Reddy, who was instrumental in Andhra's outright victory against Saurashtra in the last match at Rajkot, frustrated the hosts' bowlers as he held on to the wicket firmly batting all through the day.

He played 270 balls and hit five boundaries during his 361 minutes occupation at the crease.

After toiling, Baroda got the first breakthrough in the 20th over when left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar dismissed M S K Prasad for 16. Pawar claimed the second wicket in the post-lunch session as A S K Varma (35, 7x4) edged him to Ketan Panchal at gully while going for a big hit. By then the visitors had taken their score to 100 in 54.4 overs with a 68-run partnership for the second wicket.

Skipper Venugopal, who joined Reddy, however did not last long as medium pacer Murtuja Vohra sent him back to pavilion with 15 runs soon after the tea break.

Scorecard

Andhra Pradesh (1st innings):
L N Prasad Reddy batting 72
M S K Prasad c J Martin b R Pawar 16
A S K Varma c K Panchal b R Pawar 35
Y Venugopal Rao c wk P Shah b M Vohra 15
Y Gnaneswar Rao lbw R Patel 28
Extras: (lb 2, nb 2) 4
Total: (for 4 wickets in 89.4 overs at close) 170

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-100, 3-124, 4-170

Bowling: Rakesh Patel 21.4-6-35-1, Irfan Pathan(Sr) 11-4-24-0, Murtuja Vohra 14-7-19-1, Rajesh Pawar 23-7-45-2, Ketan Panchal 6-2-16-0, Yusuf Pathan 14-3-29-0.