Nagaland defeated Arunachal Pradesh by 117 runs in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Plate Group) match on Friday. After losing their first match of the tournament against Mizoram by 16 runs, Nagaland came back strongly in the Twenty20 cricket championship at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
Arunachal won the toss and elected to bowl. Joshua Ozukum was the top scorer for Nagaland with 74 runs off 40 balls, earning him the Player of the Match award. Dega Nischal (26), Nchumbemo Humtsoe (35), and captain Jonathan Rongsen (15) also contributed to Nagaland’s total of 214/4. Chetan Bist (36) and Hem Chetri (17) remained not out.
In response, Arunachal were bowled out for 97 runs. Their openers Neelam Obi (25) and Kara Hakap (37) made a steady start, but the other batters failed to make significant contributions, losing the last seven wickets for just 17 runs.
Nagaland captain Jonathan Rongsen claimed 4 wickets, while Akavi Yeptho took 3 wickets.
Nagaland will next play against Sikkim on November 30.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a domestic Twenty20 cricket championship in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is named after former Test cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali and is played by teams from the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic first-class cricket championship.
