Kerala eliminated from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after defeat against Haryana

Mumbai: Kerala have been eliminated from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after losing to Haryana on Tuesday.

Kerala lost by 4 runs after sending Haryana to bat first in the match. Haryana managed to score 198 runs in the first innings. Kerala, in response, sould score only 194 runs despite half centuries from captain Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby.

The loss means that Kerala has been eliminated from the quarter final round despite a streak of good performances in the beginning of the tournament. This is the second consecutive defeat that Kerala suffered in the tournament.  

Sachin Baby’s dismissal in the final over turned out to be the turning point of the match. Sachin scored 68 runs from 36 balls.

Sanju Samson (51) and Mohammad Azharuddin (35) gave a great start to the team after the early loss of Robin Uthappa (8). The duo put Kerala in the driver’s seat with a partnership of 81 runs. In the end, Kerala fell 5 runs short of the target after losing 6 wickets.