By Our Reporter
Shillong, Dec 8: Meghalaya stormed to a 164-run victory against Sikkim in their first match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Plate Group in Jaipur today.
Guest professional Chirag Khurana struck 100 at the top of the order and Lerry Sangma cracked 69 off just 63 deliveries as Meghalaya made 265/5 in their allotted 50 overs after losing the toss and being made to bat first. Dippu Sangma (3/13) and Akash Kumar Chaudhary (3/18) then shone with the ball as Sikkim were all out for 101.
Khurana opened the batting with Kishan Lyngdoh. This was the pair that were the mainstay of Meghalaya’s batting in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament and they put on 48 for the first wicket today.
“I’m really happy and thankful that I’m a part of the Meghalaya set-up,” an elated Khurana said while speaking to The Shillong Times.
“Today’s wicket was seamer friendly and our batters did extremely well to post a challenging total. Credit to our bowlers as well who exploited the conditions perfectly to bowl out Sikkim for 101,” he continued.
Lyngdoh was out for 15 and Rohit Shah and skipper Punit Bisht made 10 and 20 respectively. By that stage Meghalaya were 132/3 in 30.3 overs.
Lerry’s arrival to the crease signalled the start of an upping in Meghalaya’s scoring rate. He smacked three sixes and three fours in his 69 from 63 balls. His partnership with Khurana gave Meghalaya another 67 runs for the fourth wicket when the latter was dismissed.
Ravi Teja was his replacement and he hit a quick 25 off 19 deliveries as Meghalaya struck nine an over in the last eight overs to reach 265/5.
In the chase, Dippu struck twice in the fifth over and Chaudhary twice in the 11th to leave Sikkim in trouble on 39/4. Dippu bagged his third in the 14th over and Chaudhary followed suit in the next to leave Sikkim facing real difficulties at 45/6.
The batting side then experienced a slight recovery as they made 35 for the seventh wicket but the resistance did not last too long as Sikkim were all out for 101, with Teja (2/3) and Aryan Bora (1/15) claiming the other wickets for a terrific start to their campaign.
Meghalaya will next face Bihar today.