Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019: Sandeep Warrier's hat-trick helps Kerala edge past Andhra

Sandeep Warrier turned out to be the star for Kerala as they beat Andhra in a nail-biter in the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 27-year-old pacer picked up a hat-trick to tilt the scales in Kerala's favour.

With Andhra needing 10 runs to win in the last over, Karan Sharma hit one in the air, but to everyone's surprise wicket-keeper Mohammed Azharuddeen dropped a sitter.

The very next delivery saw KV Sasikanth skying one to the outfield as he departed for 11. Sharma, who had smacked a six in the previous over, edged one to the keeper and this time Azharuddeen held on to it.

SK Ismail was the last man in. With nine runs needed off three deliveries, the batter tried to play a cheeky shot but ended up edging one to the keeper. In the process, Warrier bagged a hat-trick and Kerala snatched a crucial win.

Earlier in the day, Vishnu Vinod hit a 70 off 61 balls. His innings comprised of five boundaries and a couple of sixes. Skipper Sachin Baby stuck a quick-fire 38 while Arun Karthik scored 31, including two boundaries and a six.

Bandaru Ayyappa was the pick of the bowlers for Andhra. He picked one wicket and conceded 25 runs. Girinath Reddy scalped two wickets and gave away 18 runs from his three overs.

A target of 161 looked daunting once Andhra skipper and man in form Hanuma Vihari departed cheaply, The opener was dismissed for 6 runs while centurion from the last match- Ricky Bhui was sent back for mere three runs.

It was Prasanth Reddy who took the game forward and hit a vital 57 off 36 balls. The batter hit four boundaries and three sixes. But his effort went in vain as Warrior's brilliant last over turned the table in Kerala's favor.

Brief Scores: Kerala - 160/6 in 20 overs (Vishnu Vinod 70, Sachin Baby 38, Girinath Reddy 2/18) beat Andhra - 152 all out in 19.4 overs (Prasanth Kumar 57, Sandeep Warrier 3/27, Dinesan Nidheesh 2/25) by eight runs