Rao, Pradeep guide Andhra past Goa

Y Venugopala Rao and skipper AG Pradeep struck a century each as Andhra overhauled a massive total of 383 set by Goa in the South Zone one-day tournament for the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy here at the RSI ground on Friday.

Venugopala (115 n.o., 101b, 11x4, 1x6) and Pradeep (104, 69b, 11x4, 5x6) raised 195 for the fifth wicket in just 144 balls to set up an impressive chase. Andhra replied with 386 for six in 48.4 overs after Goa had posted 383 for seven on the strength of a 123-ball 139 (20x4, 1x6) by Rohit Asnodkar. With this win, Andhra collected their first points after losing their first three matches, two of which had cost them as many points.

At the Chinnaswamy stadium, defending champions Tamil Nadu strengthened their chances of retaining the title with another clinical performance. Having beaten strong contenders Karnataka with a bonus point, TN demolished Kerala by 61 runs to take their points tally to 14, one more than the hosts. Aniruddha Srikkanth struck a 94-ball 82  as TN put up a daunting 284 for five. Kerala could only manage 223 all out in 48.3 overs to concede a bonus point.

Brief scores: At Chinnaswamy stadium: Tamil Nadu: 284/8 in 50 overs (Aniruddha Srikkanth 82 Abhinav Mukund 43, KB Arun Karthik 56, K Shri Vasudeva Das 37; P Parameshwaran 2-57, P Prashanth 3-54) bt Kerala: 223 all out in 48.3 overs (VA Jagadeesh 32, Rohan Prem 26, Robert Fernandez 86; R Jesuraj 4-29, C Ganapathy 4-35). TN: 5 pts, Kerala: -1.

At RSI ground: Goa: 383/7 in 50 overs (Amog Desai 42, Rohit Asnodkar 139, Reagan Pinto 68, Shadab Jakati 45 n.o., Robin D’Souza 37 n.o.; Syed Shahbuddin 2-56, P Vijay Kumar 2-61, SH Srinivas 2-103) lt to Andhra: 385/6 in 48.4 overs (DB Prashant Kumar 56, Syed Shahbuddin 66, Venugopala Rao Y 115 n.o., AG Pradeep 104; Ganesh Raj Narvekar 4-56). Andhra: 4 pts, Goa: 0.