By Our Reporter
Shillong, Oct 27: Kevin Christopher and Manish Sharma made a remarkable pairing with the two bowlers taking all 10 of Jammu and Kashmir’s wickets in the latter’s second innings in the U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy Elite Group match in Jammu on Tuesday.
On the second day J&K were all out for 192, with Kevin Christopher claiming 6/34 in 15.5 overs and Manish 4/63 in 34.
Meghalaya have a target of 293 to win, which they will embark on next day. The visitors were all out for 107 earlier on the day in their first innings. Pace off the ball was key to Meghalaya’s success in the field today, with left-arm orthodox spinner Manish opening the bowling and Kevin, more known for his batting skills, coming on as first-change with a gentle action. Udhay Partap struck 68 from 97 balls at the top of the order before he became one of Manish’s victims and the hosts largely failed with the bat thereafter.
Earlier, Meghalaya began the day on 58/7 in response to J&K’s first innings score of 207 all out. Resuming on 2 not out, Manish ended with his team’s top score of 30, a valuable contribution to help Meghalaya get past three figures, though, in the end, they conceded a 100-run lead to the home team.
With the match finely balanced, Meghalaya will look to draw inspiration from their spirited bowling performance as they chase a challenging 293 on the final day. The brilliant efforts of Kevin Christopher and Manish Sharma, who combined to claim all ten J&K wickets, have not only kept Meghalaya in contention but also injected belief into the side after a modest first-innings display.
