Karnataka win Ramachandra Rao Trophy

Karnataka emerged winners of the P Ramachandra Rao Trophy for the South Zone under-22 title on Thursday. The three points they got from their rain affected match against Tamil Nadu at Pondicherry was enough for them to edge out Hyderabad on run quotient. Both Karnataka and Hyderabad finished on 24 points. But Karnataka on a better run quotient took the trophy.

The Pondicherry game ended in a tame draw as play was called off at 1.30 pm on the third and final day.

Put in to bat, Karnataka in their first innings scored 271 thanks to a fine 105 by opener KS Ponnappa. He shared a 98-run second wicket stand with Barrington Rowland (45). Thereafter a 61-run fourth wicket partnership ensued between Ponnappa and AR Mahesh (37). Vasanth Saravanan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5 for 59.

The second day witnessed only 25 overs. After Karnataka were all out in the morning, Tamil Nadu mustered 49 for no loss at the end of play. On the final day, only 16 overs were bowled. Tamil Nadu had scored 116 with the openers S Badrinath (67) and Rajat Bhatia (39) remained unbeaten till the end.