Andhra-Kerala encounter meanders to a draw

The South Zone under-14 tournament match between Kerala and Andhra at the Ukku Stadium in Vijayawada meandered into a tame draw on the final day on Friday. Andhra due to their first innings lead earned five points while Kerala three.

Resuming at the score of 35 for no loss on the third day, Kerala lost eight wickets while scoring 215 runs in their second innings. Rohan Prem was the top scorer with a fine unbeaten 106 off 287 balls. Rohan during his stay shared a 75 run seventh wicket stand with Sajith Muralidaran (30) in 30.3 overs.

Earlier, Andhra took an 82 run first innings lead. The Andhra total of 194 was boosted by a fine 114 by K Raghunath Reddy. Reddy who lost most of his partners early found unlikely company in the no 10 batsman TRLR Shekar (3) and put on 59 runs for the ninth wicket. Reddy did the bulk of the scoring during the innings, which witnessed only two other batsmen M Praneet (31) and AG Pradeep (10) reach double figures.

On the opening day, Kerala opted to bat and were bundled out for 112. Rohan Prem with 33 runs was the top scorer. Raghunath Reddy (3 for 25) along with Moshin Basha (2) and Shekar (2) shared the wickets for Andhra.