Karnataka defeated Hyderabad by 12 runs in the Syed Mustaq Ali South Zone T20 cricket tournament here on Thursday. Put in to bat, Karnataka made 185 with Mayank Agarwal helping himself to a superb century off just 64 balls with seven fours and four sixes. Mayank and Manish Pandey (31) put on 85 for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for a good total. Although Karnataka lost four wickets in a heap with the three of them being out for a duck, they managed to put up a competitive total. CV Milind (3 for 13) and B P Sandeep (2 for 34) bowled well for Hyderabad.
Hyderabad began their chase sedately but lost wickets regularly to fall short. T L Suman (36), PA Reddy (24), AA Bhandari (30) and BP Sandeep (21) produced useful knocks to keep their hopes alive. But part-time bowlers Manish Pandey and K Gowtham bagged four wickets each as they struck at regular intervals to ensure Karnataka won by 12 runs.
Meanwhile, Kerala shocked Tamil Nadu by four wickets with four balls to spare in another close match. Arun Karthik (66), Abhinav Mukund (41) and Dinesh Karthik (44) enabled TN post a challenging 183 for 3. But Kerala found their hero in opener VA Jagadeesh, who hammered 75 off 51 balls to lead their charge.
Brief scores: Karnataka 185 (M Agarwal 111, Manish Pandey 31, K Rahul 31, C Milind 3-13, B Sandeep 2-34) bt Hyderabad 173-9 (T Suman 36, A Bhandari 30, K Gowtham 4-19, Manish Pandey 4-37). Points: Karnataka 4, Hyderabad 0. Tamil Nadu 183-3 (Arun Karthik 66, Dinesh Karthik 44, Abhinav Mukund 41 no) lost to Kerala 188-6 (V Jagadeesh 75, P Prem 36, S Sam 2-39, L Balaji 2-39). Points: Kerala 4, TN 0. Goa 146-8 (S Asnodkar 50, Atchuta Rao 2-20, Naren Reddy 2-24) lost to Andhra 149-6 (K Bharat 51, S Badiuzzama 2-23). Points: Andhra 4, Goa 0.