The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Vidyut fashions TN's win

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Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Vidyut fashions TN's win

Sports Reporter

Venugopala Rao's unbeaten century helps Andhra score a big victory

HYDERABAD: Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan proved his utility once again with a classy 93 to fashion defending champion Tamil Nadu's impressive 49-run win against Kerala in the first round match of the K.S. Subbaiah Pillai Trophy South Zone limited-overs cricket tournament at Gymkhana Grounds here on Friday.

Put into bat, Tamil Nadu was rarely in difficulty thanks to the enterprising stand between Vidyuth (93, 100 balls, 7 x 4, 2 x 6) and S. Badrinath (75, 87 balls, 4 x 4, 1 x 6) for the fourth wicket that effectively pushed Kerala out of the match.

It was unfortunate that Vidyuth had to perish to an easy dismissal, when he failed to check his intended drive only to give a simple return catch to bowler Jagadish.

At the other end, Badrinath was his usual self with some pleasing strokes including a straight six off Sreekumar Nair before he paid the penalty for going in for an ambitious sweep shot off medium-pacer Prashanth Chandran.

The same bowler, off the next ball cleaned up Dinesh Karthick with one that cut back sharply to leave Tamil Nadu at 224 for five in 42.5 overs.

Then it was the turn of India discard and southpaw Hemang Badani to move into top gear with an elegant knock (74 not out, 65 balls, 2 x 4, 2 x 6). A combination of class and sheer arrogance with the willow saw him execute some extravagant strokes on either side of the wicket. His knock embellished with some brilliant inside-out strokes was yet another proof that there was nothing in the pitch.

And when the chase was on, it was obvious that Sadagopan Ramesh's run-out at the non-striker's end to a brilliant direct hit from covers by Satish even as Ramesh was trying to steal a second run, was the most decisive factor, this despite the flamboyance of Sony Cheruvathoor hitting 80 off 85 balls (8 x 4).

There was a regular parade at the other end as none of the batsmen stayed put to take the fight into the rival camp. Finally Kerala finished at 255 for eight in 50 overs. The only consolation being that it denied Tamil Nadu a bonus point.

Andhra's impressive win

In another match at NFC, Y. Venugopala Rao cracked an unbeaten 104 (62 balls, 15 x 4) and fashioned Andhra's impressive, 164-run win, which also fetched it the bonus point besides the four points. Similarly, Karnataka defeated Hyderabad by 72 runs to pick the bonus point at Uppal.

The scores:

At Gymkhana: Tamil Nadu 304 for six in 50 overs (Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan 93, S.Badrinath 75, Hemant Badani 74 not out) bt Kerala 255 for eight in 50 overs (Sony K.Cheruvathoor 80, Vignan G.Nair 44 not out).

At NFC: Andhra 303 for three in 50 overs (T. Suman 77, Ambati Tirupati Rayudu 54, Y. Venugopala Rao 104 not out) bt Goa 139 in 34.3 overs (Nikhil Haldipur 34, Swapnil Asnodkar 30, K.S. Shahabuddin three for 33, V.V. Saraswathi Reddy four for 27).

At Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium: Karnataka 260 for eight in 50 overs (C. Raghu 117, B. Akhil 52) bt Hyderabad 188 for nine (N.S. Arjun Yadav 43, Amol Shinde 44 not out, Sunil Joshi three for 28).

Saturday fixtures: Andhra vs Hyderabad (Gymkhana), Tamil Nadu vs Goa (Uppal), Karnataka vs Kerala (ECIL). 9 a.m.

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