M’laya hold strong position

Shillong, Dec 9: A magnificent century by Avinash Rai with strong support from Pushkar Raj Singh and Shavian Blah put Meghalaya into a very strong position at the end of the second day of their U-19 men’s Cooch Behar Trophy match against Arunachal Pradesh in Anand, Gujarat, on Saturday.
Avinash struck 19 fours in his 126 from 189 deliveries as Meghalaya made 365 all out, giving them a daunting first innings lead of 205 over Arunachal, who had made 160/10 yesterday.
By stumps, Arunachal, acting as the hosts, were 22/1 as Meghalaya will look to win the match today without having to bat again.
In partnership with Pushkar, Avinash pulled Meghalaya back from the brink when they were reduced to 49/4. He and Pushkar, who finished with 79 (10x4s), put on 184 for the fifth wicket to the chagrin of Arunachal. Shavian then came in to add further pain to the opposition as he hit 74 not out from just 97 deliveries in a performance that included 13 fours and the only six of the innings.
Shavian had impressed yesterday as well, as he took 4/34 in 17 overs with the ball. Arunachal had won the toss and chosen to bat first but they were dismissed for a sub-par score. Shavian dismissed two top order batters in the space of two balls but could not get his hat-trick.
Arunachal then recovered somewhat with a third wicket partnership of 78 but, after that ended, they lost 8/64 to be bundled out for 160.
Balgrik Sangma claimed the best figures with 4/28 in 10 overs for Meghalaya, while Avinash (1/15 in 5) and Angkit Tamang (1/29 in 16) picked up one wicket apiece.
Balgrik then took the only wicket to fall so far in Arunachal’s second innings as the hosts still trail by 183 runs going into the penultimate day.