Shillong, Jan 17: Meghalaya romped home to victory by an innings and 51 runs on the fourth and final day of their U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Manipur in Surat today.
To do so, Meghalaya had to overcome some stubborn middle order resistance as Manipur looked to eke out a draw. However, Manish Sharma was not to be denied and finished with 6/32 in 31 overs. He had also taken 6/50 in the first innings, giving him match figures of 12/82 and this was understandably described by Meghalaya Cricket Association President Nababrata Bhattacharjee as a “heroic effort”. This is the second time in as many games that he took more than 10 wickets in a match after bagging 14/54 versus Sikkim in Meghalaya’s first fixture.
To recap, Manipur had produced a fighting 257 all out in their first innings but Meghalaya blew them away with 467/10 in response – led by Kevin Christopher’s 155 as well as three half-centuries by Nishanta Chakraborty (66), Aman Kumar (65) and PM Santhosh (51).
Resuming their second innings today on 22/2, Manipur were further reduced to a disastrous 23/5 thanks to an excellent start to the bowling by Manish and Abhishek Kumar (2/58 in 14 overs).
Manipur avoided a premature end thanks to a couple of partnerships of 70 and 66 runs respectively for the sixth and seventh wickets but Manish and Aryan Borah (2/21 in 17 overs) were able to break the resistance and Manipur went from 159/6 to be all out without the addition of a single run.
Meghalaya’s next match will be against Mizoram in Nadiad, Gujarat, from 21st January.
(Meghalaya Cricket Association photo)