Hyderabad suffered its second straight defeat in the second round of the South Zone limited-overs cricket tournament for the K.S. Subbaiah Pillai Trophy when Andhra recorded an emphatic, seven-wicket win at Gymkhana Ground here on Saturday.
Put into bat, only opener Akshath Reddy (34, 29b, 8x4) and all-rounder Ashish Reddy (43, 53b, 5x4, 1x6) showed some intent to stay at the wicket. The rest of the batsmen failed to come good against a disciplined Andhra bowling attack, with left-armer Stephen Veera Raghavalu the most impressive with a three-wicket haul.
With the big guns D. Ravi Teja and Hanuma Vihari failing once again, Hyderabad’s batting woes were only compounded as another medium-pacer Ayyappa Bandaru proved to be a perfect complement to Raghavalu with a three-wicket haul.
ChaseHyderabad struck early with medium-pacer Ashish Reddy once again in the act, sending back opener D.B. Prashanth Kumar cheaply in the fourth over. Though left-arm medium-pacer Chama Milind dismissed the other opener K.S. Bharat (22) to reduce Andhra to 43 for two in 13 overs, the joy was short-lived as the other bowlers struggled.
Kaif (88 n.o., 107b, 10x4, 1x6) and Bharat Reddy (46, 75b, 4x4) put on a 103-run stand, which virtually pushed the home team on to the backfoot. Kaif eased into two, flowing straight drives and then pulled Ashish Reddy with nonchalance in one over, and it was obvious that he meant business and was not in the mood to let the opposition come back into the game.
When Kaif, in the company of the talented Ricky Bhui, guided Andhra home, it meant another slipshod performance from the home team.
Tamil Nadu posts winIn another match, K.B. Pawan’s century (113, 136b, 11x4, 2x6) went in vain for Kerala as Tamil Nadu won by four wickets. Karnataka also recorded its second straight win, scoring a comfortable, seven-wicket victory over Goa.
The scores: Hyderabad 193 in 49.5 overs (P. Akshath Reddy 34, Ashish Reddy 43, Stephen Veera Raghavalu three for 26, Ayyappa Bandaru three for 37) lost to Andhra 194 for three in 44.1 overs (Mohd. Kaif 88 n.o., K. Bharat Reddy 46).
Kerala 254 in 49.2 overs (K.B. Pawan 113, Amit Varma 36, M. Mohammed three for 45, Rahil S Shah three for 34) lost to Tamil Nadu 255 for six in 49.5 overs (M. Vijay 66, Baba Aparajith 68, R. Satish 55 n.o., Raiphi Vincent Gomez three for 51).
Goa 183 in 40.2 overs (Darshal Misal 51) lost to Karnataka 185 for three in 27.3 overs (Manish Pandey 69 n.o. Karun Nair 78 n.o.).
