By Our Reporter
Shillong, Nov 2: Meghalaya were handed a 115-run defeat by giants Karnataka in their first match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one day tournament season in Kolkata on Saturday.
Earlier, Karnataka had won the toss and elected to bat first before being dismissed for 259, after which Meghalaya could only manage 144.
Some fine bowling saw Meghalaya reduce Karnataka to 198/8 in 42.5 overs but the southern team were able to squeeze out another 61 runs in 7.1 overs thanks to Shreyas Gopal (64).
Still, it was a good day for Meghalaya’s bowlers, like Chengkam Sangma (1/55), who trapped India international cricketer Mayank Agarwal lbw for 15.
Abhishek Kumar (3/54), who dismissed Gopal, returned the best figures, while Chirag Khurana (2/42) and Rajesh Bishnoi (2/47) bagged a brace of wickets each. Lerry Sangma (1/19) also claimed one scalp.
In response, Meghalaya began slowly but steadily, with 58 runs put on by the openers Surya Rai (38) and Wanlambok Nongkhlaw (11). Khurana (32), Lerry (16) and Dippu Ch Sangma (16) were the other contributors but no one could really get a big score against the class bowling attack.
Meghalaya will play their second match against Delhi on Sunday. The Meghalaya team is currently being led by Dippu Ch Sangma for the ongoing tournament, while Wanlambok Nongkhlaw is his deputy.