Shillong, 5 February (MTNews): A blistering display of fast bowling saw Nagaland dismissed for a mere 74 in their first innings of the U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy plate group match against Meghalaya at the MCA Ground in Shillong today.
This was in response to Meghalaya’s 295 all out in their initial outing, giving the hosts a substantial lead of 221. Declining to impose the follow-on, Meghalaya had another bat but were 78/6 when bad light stopped play.
Overcast conditions assisted the fast bowling pair of PM Santhosh and Abhishek Kumar, who bowled in tandem as Nagaland were skittled in just 18.4 overs. Santhosh nabbed 5/18 on his return to the team, and Abhishek netted 5/52, with the pacers placing the ball in the right areas and relying on swing, movement off the pitch, or the batters’ own mistakes to do the rest.
Tohuka (17) and Afzal (32) were going well for Nagaland until the former presented the easiest of catches for Badonnam Mylliemngap at mid-on. After that, the remaining wickets fell in a heap on either side of lunch.
Santhosh was poised for his five-wicket haul, but he fell short of six as Abhishek bagged the last wicket by destroying Neizekho’s stumps. With ample time left in the match and an eye on the semifinal, for which Meghalaya has already qualified, Captain Kevin Christopher thought it best for his boys to get some extra batting practice. However, conditions still posed a challenge, and Meghalaya were reduced to 78/6 by the time stumps were finally called.
This, though, has given them a lead of 299, which should be sufficient even if they do not add any further runs tomorrow. Carrying on from where he left off in the first innings, Nishanta Chakraborty was the lone batter to get on top of the bowling and was not out on 35 at the close of play.
Earlier, Nishanta was out for 134 in 243 balls (21x4s, 2x6s) in Meghalaya’s first innings. The team had resumed at 261/7 and added a further 34 runs before being bowled out for 295 in the morning.