Mokokchung, January 9 (MTNews): The 31st edition of the Mokokchung District T20 Interclub Tournament commenced at the Imkongmeren Sports Complex on Monday with Deputy Commissioner of Mokokchung, Shashank Pratap Singh gracing the inaugural session as the chief patron.
Singh during a brief exhortation encouraged the players to consider sports, particularly cricket, as a viable career option citing that cricket in recent times has become a popular sport played across the world with opportunities in various roles including players, coaches, umpires and support staff.
A total of 7 teams divided into two pools are vying for the biggest cricket trophy in Mokokchung and one of the oldest in Nagaland. The teams are Jovial CC, A&K Cricket Fraternity, Sovran CC, Züngamedem, Titans CC, Trebuchet CC and United Brothers CC.
The inaugural match of the tournament was played between A&K Cricket Fraternity and Jovial CC. The latter won the toss and opted to bat first and posted a total of 129 runs in 20 overs losing 6 wickets while A&K CF ended the match short as they chased down the target in 13.4 overs for the loss of 2 wickets, winning the match by 8 wickets.
Moaakum (32 off 24) and Temjentoshi (22 off 32) were the leading run scorers for Jovial CC while Moatemjen of A&K was the pick of the bowlers who scalped 2 wickets.
In the second essay, Menchet (68 off 39) and Nripen Rai (56 off 35) remained unbeaten to take A&K to a convincing victory with 8 wickets and 38 balls to spare.