Hyderabad hold nerve in tight contest

Hyderabad prevailed in a tense situation to pull off a two-wicket win by just three balls in their Ranji one-day match against Andhra Pradesh at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh opted to take first strike and, although they lost opener AS Pathak early, LNP Reddy and Y Venugopal Rao put on 106 runs for the second wicket. Reddy made a sedate 51 off 104 balls, with two fours, and was the first of the pair to be dismissed.

Brisk cameos from MSK Prasad, RVC Prasad and KS Sahabuddin saw the total nudge past the 200-run mark. Venugopal Rao, who played the anchor role well, fell with the score on 203, having scored 86 off 107 balls. For Hyderabad, JS Yadav picked 3-58.

Needing 266 to win, Hyderabad also posted a good second-wicket partnership, between A Nand Kishore (48 off 60) and D Vinay Kumar (83 off 103). Swift lower-order batting from Anirudh Singh, RK Sabharwal and Pawan Kumar took Hyderabad to victory in 49.3 overs.

Captain's knock from Arun Kumar

A century from Karnataka captain J Arun Kumar saw his side to victory in their Ranji one-day match against Tamil Nadu at Cuddapah on Thursday.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Karnataka lost two wickets with just 10 runs on the board. After those setbacks, however, the Tamil Nadu bowlers struggled as Arun Kumar and Barrington Rowland played responsibly to post 154 runs for the third wicket.

Rowland fell first, having made 66 off 68 balls with eight fours. Arun Kumar fell a while later, scoring 100 off 99 balls, with 13 fours and one six. But Vijay Bharadwaj's 41 off 43 and cameos from Sunil Joshi and B Akhil helped their side cross the 300-run mark.

Tamil Nadu's openers fell early, and despite a knock of 86 off 99 from Sridharan Sharath and a brisk 82 off 89 balls further down the order from SV Saravanan, Tamil Nadu could never get their run-rate up high enough to take a realistic shot at the target. Karnataka bowled their rivals out for 255 in 47.1 overs, registering a 52-run win.

Goa meekly collapse to Kerala

Kerala defended a moderate total with gumption to register a 73-run win over Goa in their Ranji one-day match at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

Batting first, Kerala started disastrously, with both openers removed with the score only on 17. Wickets fell at regular intervals, and it was not until K Chandrasekhara and M Suresh Kumar put on 113 runs for the seventh wicket that Kerala's score achieved any substance. Chandrasekhara made 60 off 92 balls, while Suresh Kumar scored 75 off 78.

Set 227 for victory, Goa collapsed in a hurry. SK Cheruvathur and S Mathen took three wickets apiece to hasten the end of their rivals, breaking the middle and lower order to bowl Goa out for 153 in only 39 overs.

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