Shillong, Oct 10: Meghalaya were defeated by Pondicherry by 131 runs in their BCCI Women’s U-19 One Day Trophy match in Surat today but not without showing some marked improvements.
Having lost by 10 wickets in their opener, Meghalaya came out today showing plenty of spirit and bowled out Pondicherry for 228 in 43.4 overs. However, though three batters got starts, Meghalaya were dismissed for 97 in 33.5 overs in the chase.
Kambesa A Sangma was the all-round success story for Meghalaya, taking 3/32 with the ball before finishing not out on 18 after coming in at No. 9.
Nine bowlers in all were used by Meghalaya and, among them, Fennysha Nongrum bagged 2/31, Abiezer Kharsyiem 2/36 (including the wicket of Pondicherry’s centurion E Kavisha), Jayshree Singh 1/6 in 4 very economical overs and Ankita Sharma 1/49.
With the bat, Jayshree hit 17 and Ankita 18 in a partnership of 43 runs for the third wicket. Together, they made steady progress even if they batted a little slowly, which was understandable after two early wickets were lost inside 5 overs. However, apart from the shine provided by Kambesa, the lower order was not able to deliver and the team were bowled out for under 100.
After a day’s break, Meghalaya will be back in action against Manipur on Thursday. Manipur also lost both of their opening matches.