Shillong, Jan 2: Akash Kumar Choudhury (pictured left) scalped five wickets while Lerry Sangma (right) struck a rapid half-century as Meghalaya rolled over Arunachal Pradesh by six wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 plate group in Ranchi on 31st December.
Meghalaya beat Mizoram in their opening fixture on Christmas Eve before losing to Nagaland and Bihar on 26th and 29th December. However, they were able to bounce back nicely against Arunachal, which helped them stay in the race for a place in the final.
Arunachal won the toss and chose to bat first but were dismissed for 189 in 44.2 overs. As net run rate could play a part in deciding who goes through to the final, Meghalaya wasted no time in the chase and knocked off the required runs in just 23.1 overs, which gave them a run rate of 8.33.
Techi Doria was the star for Arunachal, as the captain led from the front with a century before being the last man out, dismissed for 106 by Abhishek Kumar (1/29 in 6.2 overs). Leading the attack for Meghalaya was Akash, who has delivered time and again, even in the two defeats. He had taken 6/44 against Mizoram and followed it up with 5/26 versus Arunachal – these are his first five-wicket hauls in List A cricket. Meghalaya’s other wicket-takers were Riboklang Hynniewta (1/20) and Anish Charak (1/35).
Kush Agarwal (22 from 37 balls) and Arpit Bhatewara (36 from 26) opened the batting for Meghalaya and put on 54 in the opening stand. When Arpit was dismissed Akash was bumped up the order to No. 3. Having already broken a first-class record for eight sixes in a row against the same opponents in the Ranji Trophy this season, he was the obvious choice for a Meghalaya side that wanted to achieve the target as fast as possible.
In just 17 deliveries he whacked three fours and four sixes for 42. His was the fourth wicket to fall and Meghalaya had reached 115 by that point. The remaining runs, in an unbroken 78-run partnership, were scored by Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva (28 not out) and Lerry (51 not out).
Lerry almost matched Akash for strike rate, facing just 25 deliveries in a rapid knock that included five fours and four sixes. This was his third half-century in the List A format. It was an innings that would have definitely put him in contention for Player of the Match but the award went to Akash for his all-round performance.
Meghalaya are currently fourth with 8 points and will play their last round robin game against second-placed Manipur (12 points) on Saturday. A win for Meghalaya would pull the two sides level on points. Nagaland, also 8 points, are in the mix as well as they face Arunachal tomorrow. Currently Nagaland have the best net run rate of the three with 0.947, while Manipur’s is 0.511 and Meghalaya’s 0.344. These three are battling it out for the one available place in the final where they would face Bihar, who have already qualified with 16 points.
(Meghalaya Cricket Association file photos)
