Bengaluru: Pacer K M Asif's four-wicket burst set up Kerala's 62-run win over Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Sunday. Asif picked up 4/34 as Kerala notched up their first win after suffering two successive defeats.
Defending a modest total of 227, Asif, who took the new ball along with Sandeep Warrier, made an immediate impact as he wrecked the Hyderabad top order. Akshath Reddy (0), Tilak Vrama (1), B Sandeep (0) and skipper Ambati Rayudu (0) fell to the right-arm pacer. His first spell read 4-2-4-4.
Opener Tanmay Agarwal negated Asif's hostile spell and carried Hyderabad's hopes with a fighting 69. The left-hander added 84 for the fifth along with Rohit Rayudu (18). But Basil Thampi removed the two and quelled Hyderabad's challenge as they folded up for 165 in the 45th over.
Earlier, Hyderabad restricted Kerala to 227/9 after electing to bowl.
The Kerala batsmen were guilty of not converting the starts into big scores.
Sanju Samson top-scored with 36, while Rahul P (35), captain Robin Uthappa (33) and Sachin Baby too went past the 30-run mark. Opener Vishnu Vinod (29) and Akshay Chandran (28) also failed to make it count.
Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan sent back Uthappa and Sanju fell to Sandeep as Kerala's hopes of a big total took a hit.
Medium-pacer Ajay Dev Goud claimed 3/52 for Hyderabad, while Hasan and Mohammed Siraj scalped two each.
Kerala have four points from three matches.
Brief scores: Kerala 227/9 in 50 overs (Sanju Samson 36; Ajay Dev Goud 3/52, Mehdi Hasan 2/38, Mohammed Siraj 2/45) bt Hyderabad 165 in 44.4 overs (.Tanmay Agarwal 69; K M Asif 4/34, Basil Thampi 2/32, Akshay Chandran 2/40).
Points: Kerala 4; Hyderabad 0.
