Hyderabad, Dec. 11: Andhra made it to the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy Plate division, after thumping Kerala in their Group B encounter by an innings and 75 runs at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur on Saturday.
After piling up a mammoth total (447/8 decl.), Andhra bowled out Kerala for 137 in their first innings. Following on, Kerala could only manage to score 235 with K. Rakesh waging a lone battle with his unbeaten 72. Opener A.M. Hegde was the other contributor with 53.
For the hosts, seamer P Vijaykumar was the pick of the lot, scalping 5 wickets while conceding 51 runs. Vijaykumar was well-supported by teammates D. Kalyankrishna (2 for 50) and Sairaj Bahutule (2 for 57).
Meanwhile, lack of application by Delhi batsmen helped Sanjay Bangar-led Railways win their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A encounter by 22 runs, at the Roshanara ground in New Delhi.
Chasing a modest victory target of 136, the Delhi batsmen failed to show any stomach for a fight on a seaming track as they were shot out for 113 in only 44.2 overs.
In another clash at Rajkot, Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary scored a career-best 233 not out as his side managed to notch up three points against Saurashtra, who are all but relegated to Plate division.
Ranji round-up
* Andhra 447 for 8 decl. bt Kerala 137 and 235 (D.P. Vijaykumar 5 for 51).
* Railways 259 and 166 bt Delhi 290 and 113 (Anureet Singh 4 for 53).
* Karnataka 257 and 391 for 8 decl. (Amit Verma 80) d/w Baroda 169 and 151 for 3 (Rakesh Solanki 46 n.o.).
* Punjab 415 and 232 for 6 decl. (Mandeep Singh 84) d/w Haryana 270 and 220/8 (Rajwinder Singh 4 for 60).
* Mumbai 238 and 13 for 2 d/w Tamil Nadu 347 (Vasudevadas 99, Harmeet Singh 5 for 86).
* Saurashtra 423 d/w Bengal 569 for 7 (Manoj Tiwary 233 n.o.).