Shillong, Jan 19: Meghalaya had Manipur on the back foot by stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy match in Mangaldai, Assam, today.
Manipur won the toss and chose to field, with Meghalaya able to make 235 all out. However, Meghalaya then had a stunning bowling period before the day’s end, capturing seven Manipur wickets for just 18 runs on the board.
Manipur began promisingly with the ball, removing the first three wickets cheaply, including that of Meghalaya’s local hero in the last game Dipu Sangma (4). However, guest-professionals Ravi Teja (90) and Punit Bisht (66) put on 127 for the fourth wicket and Meghalaya were able to get to 235.
Fellow guest-professional Sanjay Yadav, who had made 44 with the bat, then picked up four Manipur wickets for 12 runs, while Abhay Negi took 3/1 to leave Manipur reeling at 18/7 before stumps were called. So far not a single Manipur batsman has made it into double figures.
Meanwhile, in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy between Meghalaya and Sikkim in Tezpur, Sikkim will need another 172 runs to win when play resumes on the third day tomorrow.
Resuming on 74/1 chasing Meghalaya’s first innings score of 282, Sikkim were dismissed for 213 after lunch on the second day today. Adding to his wicket from yesterday, Aaron Nongrum picked up another three today to finish with figures of 4/39. Frickey Sangma (2/3), Bipin Ray (2/36) and Aryan Borah (2/62) all picked up a brace each.
That gave Meghalaya a lead of 69 runs going into their second innings but this time around they were dismissed for just 117, with Divyansh Rajput, who struck a century in the first innings, top-scoring with 61.
Sikkim were thus set a target of 187 to win and at stumps they were poised on 15/0.
