Hyderabad miss out on Ramachandra Rao Trophy

Hyderabad missed out on the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the South Zone under-22 title on Thursday after conceding the first innings lead to unfancied Andhra in their final league match at the DSA Stadium in Kakinada. With the three points gained from this match, Hyderabad finished their engagements with 24 points, level with Karnataka. But the latter were declared winners on the basis of their superior Net Run Rate of 1.41 as against Hyderabad's 1.22. Hosts Andhra settled at a modest 14 points, joint bottom with Goa.

Hyderabad won the toss and put up 239/7 on the board at the end of the first day, guided by a patient 79 (191 balls, 12 fours) from wicketkeeper Khalil. On the second morning, they were bowled out for 274, with Andhra's Anil Kumar claiming 5/50. Hyderabad seamer Mohammed Ghouse struck back with a lethal spell to fire out the top five batsmen in the Andhra line-up with the score at 85. Skipper Y Venugopala Rao launched a recovery with two valuable partnerships involving TK Ayyapaswamy and Mohd. Faiq. When he was seventh out early on the third morning for 84 (154 balls, 12 fours), Andhra were still 59 away from the first innings lead. The eighth wicket pair of Faiq and Vikrama Varma nonchalantly carried them through as Andhra closed at 287. In the time that remained, Hyderabad blazed to 259/4 from just 52 overs thanks to an unbeaten 115 (110 balls, 20 fours) from the blade of one-drop Anirudh Singh, ably assisted in his efforts by opener T Suman's 76.