From Our Correspondent
Vijayawada, Nov 6: Meghalaya’s unbeaten run in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy came to an end on Saturday after they were comprehensively beaten by Vidarbha by 8 wickets here at the Mulapadu cricket stadium.
Meghalaya won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers – Kishan Lyngdoh (6) and Chirag Khurana (26) – could not replicate the fantastic starts they had produced so far in the tournament.
Lyngdoh was dismissed in the second over, just after he had lofted Vidarbha bowler Yash Thakur (3/12) for a six over long on. Thakur then got rid of Meghalaya skipper Punit Bisht (3) in the fourth over.
Khurana continued to played some shots which included consecutive boundaries against spinner AkshayKarnewar (2/18) before losing his wicket in an attempt to up the ante.
Experienced batter Ravi Teja (0) was trapped leg-before by Karnewar the very next ball.
All-rounders Akash Choudhary (22) and Anish Charak (12) tried to steady the Meghalaya innings but wickets kept on falling at regularly interval. In the end, Meghalaya could manage 96 runs in 19.1 overs.
With rain threating to play a spoil sport, Vidarbha batters came out all guns blazing. They knocked off the total in 11.1 overs with former India U-19 player Atharva Taide (40 not out) top scoring in the match. Meghalaya’s Dippu Sangma and Anish claimed a wicket each.
“Our players felt the pressure of playing a big opponent. Our inexperience also showed today,” said skipper Bisht while talking to The Shillong Times after the match. “We could not asses the playing conditions properly and that played a huge part in today’s loss.”
Vidarbha and India pacer Umesh Yadav (1/16), while speaking to Meghalaya players after the match, gave some helpful tips for them to improve in the tournament.
Meghalaya have had a good start to the season. In their first match, Meghalaya demolished Mizoram by nine wickets before handing Sikkim a 6-wickets defeat earlier on Friday
Meghalaya next play Tripura on Monday.