Shillong, Oct 8: Centuries by captain Raj Biswa (pictured right) and Punit Bisht (left) led Meghalaya to victory against Mizoram in their sixth plate group match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Dehra Dun today.
Meghalaya made 316/5 in their 50 overs before bowling Mizoram out for 139 to win by 177 runs.
Biswa struck 134 – the highest score by a Meghalaya batsman this season – while Bisht made a rapid 103 from 76 deliveries.
Meghalaya won the toss and chose to bat first, with Biswa and Sylvester Mylliempdah opening the batting.
Mylliempdah reached double figures but was then dismissed by Mizoram’s most successful bowler, Abrar Kazi, for 14. Biswa (19 fours, 2 sixes) then added 81 for the second wicket in partnership with Swarajeet Das (32) and 162 with Bisht (11 fours, 3 sixes) for the third wicket before the opener was dismissed for 134 with the scoreboard reading 274/3.
Bisht and fellow professional Sajay Yadav then pummelled 42 more runs from the remaining 3.1 overs to get Meghalaya to 316/5 from their allotted 50 overs.
In the chase Mizoram lost an early wicket to Akash Kumar but then put on 58 runs for the second wicket. Das then came on to bowl and dismissed the next three batsmen to leave Mizoram on 72/4.
A dramatic collapse later on saw Mizoram lose four wickets for just two runs with Pawan KB the last remaining batsman to pose any real resistance.
Pawan farmed the strike with No. 11 G Lalbiakvela for 10 overs before the former fell for 52 as Mizoram were dismissed for 139 in 38 overs.
Das returned the best figures for Meghalaya – 3/17 – while Aditya Singhania (2/22), Yadav (2/26) and Kumar (2/39) took a couple of wickets each.
Meghalaya will next take on hosts Uttarakhand on 11th October.
(Meghalaya Cricket Association file photo)
