Karnataka lifts Ram Mohan Rao Trophy

Panaji, Feb 16 (UNI) Karnataka defeated Kerala and have inscribed their name on the P S Ram Mohan Rao trophy.

Karnataka won with bonus points over their opponents and have one match to spare. They top the table with 20 points after the end of the penultimate round in the under-25 South Zone limited overs inter-state cricket tournament played in Goa.

Deadly bowling by off-spinner Ryan Ninan (four for 29) and medium-pacer Aditya Sagar (three for 11) helped Karnataka defeat Kerala by 51 runs with bonus points in their penulatimate round match played at the Sports Authority Ground at Margao.

In another two matches of the day, host Goa defeated Hyderabad by five wickets to register their first win and Tamil Nadu beat Andhra Pradesh by three wickets.

With this win, Karnataka topped the table with 20 points followed by Kerala with 13 points. Even if Karnataka lose against Tamil Nadu in the last match on Monday and Kerala win against Goa also with bonus points, Kerala would still trail Karnataka since they would be able to increase their points tally to only 18.

Karantaka, after winning the toss today, elected to bat and scored 155 all out in 43.4 overs with major contributions from C M Gautam (25), S P Manjunath (25), Keshav Chitta (20) and Aditya Sagar (not out 17).

Kerala, chasing the target of 156, could manage to score 104 before they were all out in 37.5 overs. Excepting Rakesh K J, who scored 40 that was laced with five fours and one six, no other batsman made any significant contribution.

Scores in brief: Karnataka: 155 all out in 43.4 overs (C M Gautam 25, S P Manjunath 25, Keshav Chitta 20, V Chelwvaraj 17, Adtiya Sagar not out 17. Prashant 2/27, Rakesh K S 2/27) beat Kerala: 104 all out in 37.5 overs (Rakesh K J 40, Rajulal 13, Vineet Vishwanth 19, Madan Mohan 10. Aditya Sagar 3/11, Ryan Ninan 4/29).

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