Andhra claimed the South Zone title in the Vijay Merchant Trophy under-16 tournament here on Thursday with a record total for a State team in any age group, including the Ranji trophy.
Karan Shinde completed a double century (216, 26x4, 456 b) and added 119 for the fourth wicket with captain Ashwin Hebbar (65,12x4) as Andhra which resumed at 354 for two made 599 against Karnataka.
Andhra topped the table with 21 points and qualified for the inter-zonal tournament along with Hyderabad which finished second. Tamil Nadu recovered well after following on and denied Hyderabad an innings win.
Maazuddin and Nikhildeep took three each and Krishna Charit picked up two to dismiss Tamil Nadu for 121.
Trailing by 302 runs, Tamil Nadu was struggling at 127 for six after opener K. Vishal Vaidya (64, 11x4) added 75 for the second wicket with M.S. Promoth (31, 4x4, 1x6) and 50 for the fourth wicket with S. Ashwin Ram (27, 5x4).
Then N. Jagadeeshan (50, 9x4) and G. Vikram (48, 8x4) came together and their 99-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket ensured a draw.
Left-arm spinner Amulya Pandrekar claimed six wickets to bowl Goa to an innings win over Kerala to take a bonus point and finish the league in third place with 15 points.
Andhra Cricket Association announced a cash reward of Rs. 2 lakhs to the team for qualifying for the inter-zone tournament after three seasons.
The scores:
Karnataka 180 and 28 for no loss in eight overs drew with Andhra 599 in 179 overs (Karan Shinde 216, Dhruv Kumar Reddy 169, Ashwin Hebbar 65, U.M.S. Girinath 38, Sandesh four for 89). Andhra 3, Karnataka 1 .
Kerala 107 and 120 in 64 overs (A. Harikrishna 31, Vishnu Raj 27, Amulya Pandrekar six for 28) lost to Goa 253. Goa 6, Kerala 0 .
Hyderabad 423 for seven decl. drew with Tamil Nadu 121 in 69.4 overs (Ashwath Mukunthan 45, Syed Maazuddin three for 18, P. Nikhildeep three for 24) and 226 for six in 94 overs (K. Vishal Vaidya 64, N. Jagadeeshan 50 n.o., G. Vikram 48, M.S. Promoth 31, S. Ashwin Ram 27). Hyderabad 3, Tamil Nadu 1 .
Final points table: 1. Andhra (21), 2. Hyderabad (15), 3. Goa (13), 4. Kerala (8), 5. Karnataka (7), 6. Tamil Nadu (5).
