Visakhapatnam, Jan 14 (PTI) Karnataka and Tamil Naduqualified for the Super League phase by finishing first andsecond in the South Zone leg of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy SouthT20 championship today.
Tamil Nadu defeated Hyderabad by 16 runs at Dr Y SRajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here, whileKarnataka beat Kerala by 20 runs in Vizianagaram.
Karnataka topped the South Zone leg with 16 points fromfive matches (four wins and a defeat) on the basis of a betternet run-rate.
Tamil Nadu finished second on 16 points from five matches(four wins and a loss) and net run-rate of +0.435) followed byAndhra (16 points, NRR: +0.109).
Sent in to bat by Hyderabad captain Ambati Rayudu, TamilNadu rode on quick-fire knocks by skipper Vijay Shankar (40,16 balls, 2X4, 4X6) and R Sanjay Yadav (28 balls, 2X4, 3X6) inthe middle of the innings to put up 193 for 7 in 20 overs.
In response, Andhra looked in control when captainRayudu (53, 34 balls, 1X4, 4X6) and Tanmay Agarwal (59, 39balls, 5X4, 2X6) were at the crease. The former, inparticular, was severe on the leggie M Ashwin and smote himfor two big sixers in one over.
Agarwal's exit sparked a collapse as the team slid from125 for 2 to 141 for 7 in the space of four overs as M SWashington Sundar took three of the wickets to fall.
T Ravi Teja hit a few lusty blows but Andhra's challengehad effectively ended once the Rayudu-Agarwal partnership wasbroken.
In Vizianagaram, Kerala collapsed from 128 for 1 in 12overs to be all out for 161 in 19.2 overs to hand Karnataka a20-run win.
Karnataka qualified for the Super League phase of thetournament to be held in Kolkata from January 21.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 193 for 7 in 20 overs (R SanjayYadav 42, Vijay Shankar 40, Mehdi Hasan 3 for 40) beatHyderabad 177 for 8 in 20 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 59, AmbatiRayudu 53, M S Washington Sundar 3 for 29, AthisayarajDavidson 2 for 24). Points: TN: 4; Hyderabad: 0.
Andhra Pradesh 201 for 4 in 20 overs (Ricky Bhui 65, G HVihari 57, Ashwin Hebbar 52) beat Goa 183 for 6 in 20 overs(Swapnil Asnodkar 72, Sagun Kamat 43, Bhargav Bhatt 2 for 30).
Points: Andhra: 4; Goa: 0.
At Vizianagaram: Karnataka 181 for 6 in 20 overs (MayankAgarwal 86, R Samarth 27, K M Asif 2 for 34) beat Kerala 161all out in 19.2 overs (Sanju Samson 71, Vishnu Vinod 46,Pravin Dubey 3 for 35). Points: Karnataka: 4; Kerala: 0. PTISSAPR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.