Kerala successfully defend modest total

Kerala did well in successfully defending a modest total of 137 in their KS Subbiah Pillai Trophy game against Andhra at the SPIC-YMCA ground in Chennai on Wednesday. They bowled out Andhra for 114 runs to win by 23 runs, in the process registering their second straight victory in the South Zone Ranji Trophy one day competition. They had defeated Goa by three runs on Tuesday.

Put in to bat, Kerala found runs hard to come by in the face of some accurate bowling. They were off to a decent start with openers MP Sorab (30) and C Sanju (17) putting on 41 runs 14.2 overs. Skipper Sunil Oasis (23) and NA Kudua (26) added 43 runs for the fourth wicket off 13 overs to give Kerala hopes of ending up with a challenging total. But then ensued a sharp collapse with seven wickets going down for only 18 runs in the space of 6.5 overs and Kerala were dismissed in 47.3 overs. Three run outs compounded Kerala's problems.

Andhra were on the backfoot from the first ball of the innings when Tinu Yohannan bowled wicketkeeper LNP Reddy. Thereafter they lost wickets at regular intervals with only a fighting 50 by YV Rao being the saving grace. Rao faced 121 balls and hit two fours. Coming in after two wickets had fallen for 16 in the sixth over, Rao was ninth out at 114 in the 46th over. Andhra were all out at the same score the following over to suffer their second straight defeat. They had gone down to Hyderabad yesterday.