SHILLONG: Meghalaya won their Ranji Trophy plate group match by six wickets over Nagaland on the fourth and final day at the MCA Cricket Ground here on Friday.
Resuming their second innings on 332/8, Nagaland banked on centurion Abrar Kazi to continue his impressive resistance against Meghalaya’s bowlers and he was able to do so for a good few overs before being stumped off the bowling of Aditya Singhania for 164.
Left-arm spinner Singhania ended the innings with figures of 5/52 and match figures of 8/64.
Kazi’s wicket was the last one and Nagaland were bowled out for 371, setting the hosts a target of 89 to win.
The chase was a little nerve-wracking to begin with as Meghalaya lost their first three batsmen for just 12 runs on the scoreboard, but guest/professionals Punit Bisht and first innings centurion Yogesh Nagar carved out a 59-run partnership for the fourth wicket that almost saw Meghalaya across the line.
Nagar, however, was dimissed for 29, but Bisht (34 not out) and fellow guest/professional Gurinder Singh (who whacked two sixes in his 12 not out) saw Meghalaya to victory.
This was Meghalaya’s second win in three Ranji games after beating Arunachal Pradesh in their opener and then drawing away at Puducherry. They now have 13 points and will next play Manipur in Kolkata from 28th November.
Meanwhile, in the U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy plate group match between Uttarakhand and Meghalaya in Dehradun, Meghalaya were bowled out for 140 on Friday in their first innings in response to the hosts’ 220 all out. Rohit Shah was the top scorer for Meghalaya with 27 runs.
Uttarakhand then managed 138/3 (a lead of 218) at stumps on the second day. Lokesh Turaha (1/29), Md Nafees (1/32) and Akash Kumar (1/39) were Meghalaya’s wicket-takers.
