Shillong, Oct 4: A superb performance with bat and ball saw Meghalaya defeat Sikkim by a massive 149 runs in their Vijay Hazare Trophy plate group match in Anand, Gujarat, today.
Meghalaya professional cricketer Punit Bisht smashed 149 off 106 deliveries to lead Meghalaya to a first innings total of 315/5 in 50 overs after his team won the toss and chose to bat first. Captain Jason Lamare contributed a handy 55 off 65 balls as well.
With Meghalaya out of the running for the top spot in the group, and thus a quarterfinal place, the team has given more and more players experience in the tournament and today saw the participation of Babloo Passah for the first time, though he could only make 10 runs before being dismissed.
During Sikkim’s innings another Meghalaya professional, Gurinder Singh, claimed 4/20 in 10 very economical overs as Sikkim struggled with the huge target.
Among Meghalaya’s other bowlers, Dipu Sangma took 2/14 in six overs, while Lamare also turned his arm over for a few overs and managed to bag a wicket as well. Abhay Negi (1/19) and Lakhan Singh (1/37) took the other scalps as Sikkim were restricted to 166/9 in their 50 overs.
With three wins and three defeats Meghalaya are fifth in the nine-team plate group with 12 points. They will play their penultimate match against Manipur on Saturday in Vadodara. Manipur are in sixth place on 10 points from seven matches (one of their games was abandoned due to bad weather).
You can find the full scorecard from Meghalaya’s match today on the BCCI website.
