Shillong, Sep 20: Meghalaya won their first ever Vijay Hazare Trophy match over Mizoram by a comfortable eight wickets in Nadiad, Gujarat, today, with Punit Bisht and Jason Lamare leading the way with the bat.
Meghalaya won with a massive 22.3 overs to spare as they made the required runs at a run rate of 5.64.
Chasing 155 for victory, Meghalaya got their Plate Group campaign off to a great start, with the only thing going against them being the toss, which was won by Mizoram.
Mizoram chose to bat first, but were bundled out for just 154 in 43.4 overs, with three Meghalaya bowlers taking two wickets each – Raj Biswa (2/14), Abhay Negi (2/24) and Amiangshu Sen (2/26).
Mizoram’s professional player Taruwar Kohli proved to be the biggest headache for Meghalaya’s bowlers, as the Punjab native struck 90 runs before being bowled by Negi. Besides Ruata, the Mizoram captain, who made 34, no other batsman managed to get into double figures and they crashed from 102/2 to 154 all out.
Meghalaya then set about chasing down their small target, but their suffered the setback of losing their opening batsmen in less than nine overs.
However, one of their three professionals, wicketkeeper Bisht, came in at number three and produced a rollicking unbeaten innings of 95 off 90 deliveries with 14 fours in the company of skipper Lamare, who provided the anchor. Lamare made 41 not out with six fours.
Meghalaya will have only a few hours of rest before they take on Nagaland tomorrow at the same venue. Nagaland lost their first game to Bihar by eight wickets yesterday.
You can find the full scorecard of the Meghalaya match on the BCCI website.
