Ranji Trophy
By Our Reporter
Shillong, Jan 20: Ram Gurung claimed personal best figures of 6/15 as Meghalaya steamrolled Nagaland by an innings and 128 runs on the second day of their Ranji Trophy plate group match at the MCA Ground here on Saturday.
There was further success for Akash Kumar Choudhury, who completed a phenomenal match haul of 10/79 – he bagged 3/39 to go along with his 7/40 on Friday.
Earlier, there was an innings of note with the bat as young Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva struck 75 from 124 balls in Meghalaya’s only innings. Both he and Ram are playing in their first season of the Ranji Trophy and these are their best performances at first-class level. To recap, Nagaland had been shot out for just 72 on the first day on Friday and the hosts had responded with 196/7 at stumps.
On Saturday, Meghalaya added a further 108 runs to finish on 304 all out, giving them a huge lead of 232. Nagaland were then bowled out in less than two sessions for 104 in their second innings.
Jaskirat played a measured innings without taking too many risks. He found the gaps and ran plenty of ones and twos as well as hitting eight fours. He was given good company by Akash (20 not out from 87 balls) and the two did exactly what was required for Meghalaya to build up a big first innings lead.
When Nagaland batted first on Friday, they did so after losing the toss and the Meghalaya bowlers made full use of what the conditions had to offer to demolish the visitors.
Meghalaya will next take on Mizoram from January 26 at Anand, Gujarat.