Kerala captain Sanju Samson's phenomenal knock of 73 went in vain as Andhra Pradesh continued their sublime form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and recorded a 7-wicket victory. The 30-year-old batted like a lone warrior for his team as he alone scored more runs than the other ten players combined. However, Kerala failed to put up a competitive total and lost in convincing fashion.
After being invited to bat first, Kerala had a poor start as they lost Rohan Kullummal for just two runs in the fourth over. Samson, who opened the innings, tried to ensure that the team's scoreboard kept on ticking. However, he got next to no support from the other end as the side kept losing wickets on regular intervals.
Kerala batters underperform big time
While the Andhra Pradesh bowling attack wasn't able to get Samson's wicket, they went on to dismiss the other Keral;a batters for cheap as they finished their 20 overs on 119/7. Samson remained unbeaten on 73 runs, hitting eight boundaries and three sixes as Kerala somehow managed to cross the 100-run mark. It was a dismal batting display from Kerala as no player other than Samson and M. D. Nisheesh were able to surpass even the 10-run mark.
For Andhra Pradesh, bowlers Penmatsa Raju and Saurabh Kumar were the top performers, picking up two scalps each. In reply, their batters started strong as the duo of Srikar Bharat and Ashwin Hebbar formed a robust partnership of 71 runs. Kerala got rid of the latter for 27 in the eighth over, but the match was already long gone.
Bharat's fifty leads Andhra to victory
Bharat went on to score a gritty half-century and his knock of 53 went on to steer Andhra Pradesh to a 7-wicket victory with 48 deliveries left to spare. It was a dominant display from the team in both the batting and bowling department as they racked up their fifth win of the SMAT in six games. They are now level on points with Elite Group A toppers Mumbai with 20 points each under their respective names. On the other hand, Kerala currently stand third in the group with 12 points.