Tamil Nadu score an emphatic victory

Tamil Nadu beat Goa on the second day of their three day Vijay Merchant Trophy South Zone League match played at Corchorem, Goa, on Saturday. Goa won the toss and elected to bat first. Goa were reduced to 31/6 by some awesome bowling by Tamil Nadu pacer I Varun who picked up four scalps. Goa were rescued out of the prison by a partnership of 109 for the seventh wicket by SD Shishir (63) and VR Kargaonkar (100). Goa were all out for 228 in 57 overs. Kargoankar hit nine fours in his 145 ball stay at the crease. Tamil Nadu made 270 in their first innings, thanks to a brilliant 93 by Graham Mark James who slammed nine boundaries and two majestic blows that sailed over the fence. Goa bowling heroes were Sachin Shetty 5/71 and SB Yadav 4/89. Goa never got going in their second innings as they were dismissed in 38.2 overs for 128. I Arun was amongst the wickets again as he picked up 3/19. Satish Kumar finished with 3/34. Needing 87 to win in their second innings, Tamil Nadu romped by nine wickets, guided by DP Das and KKD Karthik who made 37 each. Tamil Nadu collected eight points and Goa none.

Andhra saved their honour by saving the match from a losing position against Kerala at Vizianagaram on Sunday. On Friday Andhra won the toss and decided to bat first. The host Andhra were shocked by Kerala as they were dismissed for a paltry 147 in 67.3 overs. Kerala bowler Anish had Andhra feathers ruffled as he picked up four wickets. Kerala batsmen were on a roll as they smashed Andhra bowling floundered. Kerala declared their innings at a score of 358/8. PR Prem took the batting honours with a crafty 113 which included 16 strokes to the fence. He was well supported by CM Tejas 73 and RV Gomez who hit a whirlwind 83. Sensing an outright victory, Kerala tried their best on the last day only to be denied a victory by some dour and determined batting by Andhra captain K Srinivasa Rao and BS Vardhan. Srinivasa Rao played a captain's knock staying at the crease unconquered for 294 minutes facing 236 deliveries scoring 124 valuable runs that were studded with 19 fours. Vardhan gave his captain good support by scoring an unbeaten 55 in 193 balls. Kerala took home five points thanks to the first innings lead. Andhra were only happy to take three points from the match that looked impossible at one stage.

Hyderabad were forced to a draw by Karnataka on Sunday. Three days of slow scoring cricket at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, never looked like producing a positive result. Put into bat by Hyderabad, Karnataka were bowled out for 192 in 98.4 overs. Chetan Williams making a defiant 50 in 202 balls. Nalin Reddy with 4/65 took the bowling honours. Anoop Pai was distinctly unlucky to miss out on a century as he weathered the storm for Hyderabad and was the last batsman to be dismissed for 99. Anoop held the innings together as Karnataka seamer Gururaj Chauhan did lot of damage by dismissing the last six batsmen to finish with the figures of 21.2-4-47-6. Hyderabad were 166/8 at one stage and finally made 201. Anoop Pai saw to it that Hyderabad gained the crucial first innigs lead. Karnataka were 103/4 in their second innings at the close of play. Manjunath scoring an unbeaten 55 as Karnataka took home only three points to Hyderabad's five.