Meghalaya face daunting task ahead

SHILLONG, Dec 28: Meghalaya still require 132 runs but only have four wickets in hand, to beat Arunachal Pradesh after an interesting second day of their U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match that saw 22 wickets tumble, in Bhubaneshwar on Tuesday.
Resuming their first innings on 80/4, Meghalaya were all out for 124 before their bowlers dismissed Arunachal for 128. Meghalaya were set a target of 223 for victory but they lost six wickets for 91 at the day’s end. Kevin Christopher could only add seven runs to his overnight score before falling for 42 as Meghalaya lost their last six first innings wickets for just 32 runs.
Arunachal are the top team in the Plate Group, but they also struggled with the bat in their second innings, managing only 128. They had scored 218 in the first innings.
Meghalaya claimed the first three wickets in two overs but Ankit Solanki’s 64 proved decisive as he carried Arunachal over the 100-mark. Meghalaya used just four bowlers in this innings, with Purav Agarwal bagging 5/53. PM Santhosh (2/18), Manish Sharma (2/32) and Navin Kumar Ray (1/23) were the other wicket-takers.
Meghalaya could only reach 91 in the 40 overs they batted.
After opener Mrinal Das’ (32) wicket fell, Meghalaya slumped to 54/5 but Christopher and Rohit Yadav added a 33-run stand.
However, Christopher was dismissed in the last over of the day for 16, with Yadav not out at the other end on 19.