Mumbai: Andhra Pradesh dished out an all-round show to beat an in-form Kerala by six wickets in an Elite Group E match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Sunday.
Kerala, who had won their first three matches in the Elite E group, managed to score 112/4 after being asked to bat first at the BKC ground as the Andhra bowlers bowled in the right areas. Andhra then overhauled the target in 17.1 overs, with opener Ashwin Hebbar top-scoring with a 46-ball 48.
Kerala lost both openers, Robin Uthhapa (8) and Mohammed Azharuddeen (12) cheaply and were in a spot of bother at 28/2. It soon became 30/3 after skipper Sanju Samson (7) also perished early. Vishnu Vinod (4), who walked in at number five, gave little support to Sachin Baby (51 not out off 34 balls, 1×4; 4×6) as Kerala reeled at 38 for 4. But then, Baby found an able partner in Jalaj Saxena (27 not out off 34 balls; 1×4) as the two forged an unbeaten 74-run stand for the fifth wicket to take their side to 112/4, which was eventually not enough. For Andhra, Manish Golamaru (2/19) was the pick of the bowlers.
Brief Scores (Round IV)
Group D: Goa 154/7 in 20 overs (Ravi Bishnoi 3/26) bt Rajasthan 117 in 19.3 overs (Vijesh Prabhudesai 3/28);
Saurashtra 180/4 in 20 overs (Samarth Vyas 66 no, Prerak Mankad 57) lost to Madhya Pradesh 181/4 in 19 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 88 no, Rajat Patidar 52)
Group E: Kerala 112/4 in 20 overs (Sachin Baby 51 no; Manish Golamaru 2/19, Shoiab Mohammed Khan 1/12) lost to Andhra Pradesh 113/4 in 17.1 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 48; Jalaj Saxena 2/9);
Mumbai 94 in 19 overs (Santha Moorthy 5/20) lost to Puducherry 95/4 in 19 overs;
Plate: Manipur 105/8 in 20 overs (Amod Yadav 4/17) lot to Bihar 107/1 in 17.1 overs (Rathour 60 no);
Arunachal Pradesh 84/8 in 20 overs lost to Meghalaya 88/1 in 14.5 overs;
Chandigarh 204/6 in 20 overs (Shivam Bhambri 75) bt Sikkim 73/4 in 20 overs;
Nagaland 178/6 in 20 overs bt Mizoram 101 in 19.1 overs (Nagaho 3/12, Khrievitso 3/16).
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