GUWAHATI: A dismal batting display saw Meghalaya go down meekly to Bihar by 108 runs in Round VI Plate group match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Vadodara on Wednesday.
The Meghalaya batsmen squandered away the early advantage wrested by the bowlers in restricting Bihar, the strongest team of the group, to 211 for the loss of 9 wickets in 50 overs. Lakhan Singh, Gurinder Singh and Abhay Negi claimed two wickets each while Dipu Sangma claimed one for Meghalaya.
Bihar, opting to bat first, were at one stage reeling at 145 runs for the loss of six wickets.
However, the Meghalaya batsmen faltered from the start, moving to defensive mode in no time. Openers Rajesh Tati and Puneet Bisht yet again failed to give a good start, which put pressure on the middle order as wickets fell at regular intervals and the innings folded for a paltry 103 in 42.5 overs.
But for Gurinder and Yogesh Nagar who contributed 22 runs each, and skipper Jason Lamare who chipped in with 18 runs, the rest failed to get impress. Samar Quadri was the pick of the Bihar bowlers, claiming five scalps for 22 runs.
Meghalaya will now play against Uttarakhand at Vadodara on September 30.
