Vijay Hazare Trophy: Kerala snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

NEW DELHI: It would be hard to pick a team in the domestic circuit who have shown the uncanny knack of making a meal out of seemingly winnable positions time and again other than Kerala. In their season opener against Andhra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Palam Ground in Delhi on Wednesday, Kerala needed just 21 runs from 52 balls with seven wickets in hand.A victory was there for the taking. But then all hell broke loose. Kerala lost their last seven wickets for just 13 runs, once again showing their soft underbelly when the finish-line is near.
Kerala's guest players Arun Karthick (32) and Jalaj Saxena (46) gave them a solid start to their chase of a moderate target of 191 with an opening partnership of 72 runs. Sanju Samson (6) could not get going but captain Sachin Baby (57) steadied the ship with VA Jagadeesh (28). But once Sachin was dismissed by Karn Sharma, panic set in and the Andhra bowlers exploited it to take the game which once seemed a lost cause. Ayyappa Bandaru (2/28) and Ricky Bhui (2/8) took two wickets each in the closing stages. Going into the last over, Kerala needed eight runs and all hope was pinned on Salman Nizar, who had seen his partners going back to the hut one after another. However, in the very first ball of the final over, Bhui dismissed the Nizar to pull of an unlikely win for Andhra.
The tame show by the Kerala batsmen meant all the hard work by the bowlers to dismiss a strong Andhra batting unit for 190 went in vain. Leg-spinner Midhun S took three wickets (3/56) while Sandeep Warrier (2/17), Akshay Chandran (2/42) and Sachin (2/18) claimed two each. Bodapati Sumanth top-scored for Andhra with 79.
Kerala next play Odisha at the same venue on Friday.
Brief scores: Andhra 190 all out in 49 overs (Bodapati Sumanth 79, Ravi Teja 44; Midhun S 3/56, Sandeep Warrier 2/17, Sachin Baby 2/18, Akshay Chandran 2/42) bt Kerala 183 all out in 49.1 overs (Sachin Baby 57, Jalaj Saxena 46, Arun Karthick 32; Karn Sharma 3/37, Ricky Bhui 2/8, Bandaru Ayyappa 2/28) by 7 runs.