Shillong, Dec 3: Meghalaya’s men’s U-19 team won their Cooch Behar Trophy match against the odds versus Sikkim, taking the contest by two wickets.
The match began on Friday at Rangpo in Sikkim. Meghalaya had lost their opening two fixtures at home and were hungry for victory.
Sikkim, however, won the toss on the opening day and elected to bat first. They made 183 all out in the first innings and took a lead of 38 as Meghalaya could only made 145/10 in response. However, a good effort by the visitors saw Sikkim bundled out for 139 in their second innings, leaving Meghalaya a target of 178 to win, which they accomplished with two wickets in hand.
Pace bowler Shavian Blah did most of the damage for Meghalaya in Sikkim’s first outing with the bat, taking 4/69 in 19 overs. The hosts were in danger of crashing out for a sub-100 score as they lost their eighth wicket for only 82 on the board but they bounced back thanks to Aadnan’s 80 at No. 9, which helped them add another 101 runs for the last two wickets.
Spinners Kishlay Vishlux (2/24 in 6 overs) and Charm Marbaniang (2/30 in 6) picked up two wickets each, while pacers Banialam Mylliemngap (1/12 in 6) and Angkit Tamang (1/32 in 9) bagged one each.
Six Meghalaya batters got starts but the high score was only 46 by Pushkar Raj Singh as none of them could really push on for a big score. Sikkim’s Siddharth was particularly difficult to handle and he claimed 5/27 with the ball and Meghalaya were all out for a sub-par 145.
Holding a first innings lead, Sikkim should have done better in their second but came a cropper. Only three batters got into double figures, with the highest being No. 10 Siddharth’s 40. Again, though, Sikkim were struggling on 76/8 but Meghalaya were not able to wrap up the innings quickly enough, allowing the hosts another 63 runs from the tailenders.
This time Angkit took 3/20 in 9 overs, with a brace each for Avinash Rai (2/14 in 11), Kishlay (2/24 in 11) and Charm (2/34 in 18).
Set 178 to win, Meghalaya started well thanks to a 56 from Angkit and 38 from Manthan Dey. Pushkar also made a handy 35. However, there was a bump in the road as Meghalaya lost four middle-lower order batters for just 5 runs, which took them from 165/4 to 170/8.
Thankfully, Avinash (27 not out) and Charm (6 not out) batted sensibly and steered Meghalaya to victory without further loss.
Meghalaya will now travel to Anand, Gujarat, where Arunachal Pradesh are holding their home matches this season. That match will begin on 8th December.
(Meghalaya Cricket Association photo)