By Our Reporter
Shillong, April 2: Nokrek Tigers were supreme in the field as they defended a small total to beat Umiam Eagles by 34 runs in the sixth match of the Meghalaya Cricket Association’s Senior Men Challengers Cup here, on Saturday.
After winning the toss and batting first, the Tigers were all out for just 165 but the Sylvester Mylliempdah-led side were in no mood to roll over without a fight and bowled out the Eagles for 131 in an exciting contest.
Skipper Raj Biswa performed best with figures of 4/40 with his off-spin; one of his victims was the tournament’s current lead run-scorer, Anish Charak, who was out for 19.
But, as his team mates fell around him, Nokrek’s Player-of-the-Match Rajesh Tati, who had only managed 11 runs from his last two innings, stepped up with a fine 56 before he was stumped by Wallam John L Kynshi off the bowling of Biswa.
Krishna Thapa (23) was the other major contributor to the score, while the other wicket-takers were Lakhan Singh (2/30), Sengchim Momin (1/8), Morningstar Khongwir (1/9), Rahul Shah (1/16) and Aditya Singhania (1/31).
A total of 165 was not a big ask but it at least gave the Tigers something to bowl at. A strong start by Biswa (19) and Bamanbha Shangpliang (20) continued after the break but the 38-run opening stand was soon broken by Charak (3/42).
The Eagles came crashing down after that with Sengpan CT Sangma (3/28) bowling two batters in the same over and Biswa getting run out after attempting a single.
Umiam were then reduced to 73/6 before a slight recovery took them past 100 but Donlang Warjri was then bowled by Charak for 18 and 7.3 overs later the game was wrapped up.