JOIN US Karnataka produced an all-win performance to emerge champions in the under-25 South Zone tournament for PS Ram Mohan Rao Trophy for the third straight time.
Held at Vijayawada from February 25 to March 5, the State team started their campaign on a positive note, beating Andhra by 86 runs.
Arjun Hoysala slammed a fine 113 (123b, 12x4, 2x6) to help Karnataka post a competitive total of 277 all out in 48.1 overs. In response, Andhra were bundled out for 191 in 44.4 overs. David Mathias and Sinan Abdul Khader shared six wickets between them for Karnataka.
Karnataka then strengthened their chances of winning the tournament by posting a narrow two-wicket win over Tamil Nadu and a 27-run victory over Hyderabad. The champions ended the tournament on a high, prevailing over Kerala by two wickets. Kerala were restricted to 200 for nine. K C Cariappa was the most successful bowler for Karnataka, claiming three for 25.
Karnataka, were helped by an unbeaten 64 from Mathias as they knocked off the target in 49.2 overs.
Brief scores: Karnataka: 277 all out in 48.1 overs (Arjun Hoysala 113, Pavan Deshpande 36, MG Naveen 34; M Ajay Kumar 3-50, KV Sasikanth 3-58, T Nagendra Babu 2-45) bt Andhra: 191 all out in 44.4 overs (CR Gnaneswar 25, K Bharat Reddy 66, M Ajay Kumar 54; David Mathias 3-26, V Koushik 2-39, Sinan Abdul Khader 3-50).
Tamil Nadu: 217/9 in 50 overs (Adhitya Ganesh 64, AC Prathiban 36, V Akshay Srinivasan 34; V Koushik 4-34, Naveen MG 2-52) lt to Karnataka: 221/8 in 49.1 overs (Arjun Hoysala 46, Pavan Deshpande 35, Abdul Majid 32, David Mathias 34 n.o.; Kiran Kashyap 2-39, AC Prathiban 2-61, M Aswin 3-35).
Karnataka: 326/9 in 47 overs (Arjun Hoysala 53, Chiranjeevi GS 76, Mir Kaunian Abbas 28, Pavan Deshpande 47, Abdul Majid 35, Naveen MG 36; Farhan Ahmed 2-72, Chaitanya 5-50) bt Hyderabad: 299/9 in 47 overs (Vinay Goud 74, Rohan Yadav 72, Chaitanya 54, Tyagi 36; Koushik V 3-62, KC Cariappa 2-64, Naveen MG 4-48) by 27 runs.
Kerala: 200/9 in 50 overs (Mohammed Shanu 39, MK Akshaya 68, Abdul Safar 29; David Mathias 2-39, KC Cariappa 3-25, MG Naveen 2-48) lt to Karnataka: 203/8 in 49.2 overs (MG Naveen 41, David Mathias 64 n.o.; Tilbin Joseph 3-56, MK Akshaya 2-31).