Karnataka, Andhra, TN cruise in Syed Musthaq Ali T20 Trophy

Karnataka edged out Hyderabad by two runs in a high-scoring encounter of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 South Zone tournament at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

In another match at the same venue, Andhra Pradesh cruised to a six-wicket win over Kerala in a match reduced to 13 overs a side.

There were reports that a protest by Hyderabad players led by captain Ambati Rayudu over addition of two runs to the Karnataka total delayed the start of the second game between Andhra and Kerala.

Put in to bat, Karnataka rode on a 42-ball 77 by opener Karun Nair and Krishnappa Gowtham's 31-ball 57 to pile 205/5 before Stuart Binny's three wickets helped restrict Hyderbad to 203/9.

In other South zone matches, Tamil Nadu defeated Goa by 25 runs to register their third straight win of the tournament at Vizianagaram.

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (56) scored his third half-century on the trot to star with the bat again as Tamil Nadu posted 155/5 before restricting Goa to 130/7.

In the two West zone matches played at Rajkot, Baroda outshone Saurashtra by 8 wickets while Mumbai triumphed over Maharashtra by 7 wickets.

Electing to bat, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat top-scored with 33 runs as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals before Baroda rode on opener Kedar Devdhar's unbeaten 48-ball 62 to romp home in 16.3 overs.

In the other tie, Mumbai rode on medium pacer Akash Parkar's 3/22, to skittle Maharashtra out for a paltry 89 in 15 overs before skipper Aditya Tare's 26-ball undefeated 42 took them home with 64 balls to spare.

--IANS

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