Hyderabad: Ravi Teja smashed a whirlwind unbeaten century to power Hyderabad’s 34-run win over Kerala in the opening match in the South Zone leg of the national Twenty20 tournament for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
Ravi plundered 11 boundaries and three sixes in his 68-ball 101 as Hyderabad heaped a mountain of runs 179 for 2 to be precise in their stipulated overs.
G. H. Vihari played second fiddle with a fine 47. In the process, both players sent out a message to the Sunrisers Hyderabad management who did not pick the City players at the recent IPL auction.
Kerala found the Hyderabad total daunting and could manage just 145 for 9. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha led the bowling charge with 3/21 while Akash Bhandari, Ashish Reddy and Amol Shinde took two wickets each.
Meanwhile, Andhra suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Karnataka. Batting first at the ACA North Zone Cricket Academy grounds in Vizianagaram, Andhra was restricted to a lowly 131 for 5 even as Ricky Bhui scored an unbeaten half-century (53, 34b, 4x4, 3x6).
Karnataka overhauled the target losing just three wickets, in 18.2 overs as Manish Pandey (60) and K. L. Rahul (41) fired on all cylinders.
