Sovima, 03 April (MTNews): Nagaland defeated sports powerhouse Manipur by 19 runs to win the 1st North East Cricket Development Committee (NECDC) Interstate Friendship Senior Men’s Tournament on Monday, jointly organized by the NECDC member-states.
Hosts Nagaland set a target of 192/9 riding on skipper Jonathan’s knock of 80 that eventually got him the Man of the Match award in the final. In a match reduced to 35 overs due to rain, Manipur, who won the toss, asked Nagaland to bat first.
Things were going according to plan for Manipur as both of Nagaland’s opening pair Yugandhar and Hem fell cheaply for 4 and 3 runs respectively, leaving Nagaland struggling at 15/2 in 4.1 overs with Manipur’s Jotin Pheiroijam responsible for both wickets.
The arrival of skipper Jonathan to the crease turned things around for Nagaland as he steadied the ship and built partnerships with Imliwati (22) and Tahmeet (36) after middle order batters Sede (15) and Hokaito (4) fell. Jonathan went on to score 80 runs from 78 balls. He was also awarded Player of the Tournament for his 199 runs and 2 wickets.
Pheiroijam (4/31) took the highest wickets for Manipur in 7 overs which included a maiden over.
Chasing the target, Manipur despite a steady start managed to score 173/8 or 19 runs shy of the target. Pheiroijam (54), their leading wicket taker in the match, was also the highest run getter for Manipur.
Nagaho Chishi was the top bowler for Nagaland taking 4 wickets in 7 overs while giving away 35 runs. Spinner Khrievitso scalped 2 wickets while Hopongkyu and Tahmeet claimed 1 each.
Individual winners:
Best Batsman: Jotin Pheiroijam (Manipur)
Best Bowler: Nagaho Chishi (Nagaland)
Best Wicket-keeper: Yugandhar Singh (Nagaland)
Player of the Tournament: Jonathan Rongsen (Nagaland)
The next edition of NECDC will be hosted by Meghalaya next year.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio graced the prize distribution ceremony. Speaking at the event, Rio said that there have been many developments in cricket and in sports in the state. He also suggested that similar tournaments be held for U-19 and women too. He also expressed hope that the message will go to the BCCI to help complete the galleries in the stadium which the state funded initially but remains incomplete.
Rio also said that Nagaland would be hosting the next North East Olympics and encouraged the youths to improve upon the 79 medals won in the last edition of the games in Shillong. “Hosting the event and not winning medals would be disastrous,” he said.
Meghalaya CA president and co-convener of the tournament, Nabrata Battacharjee said that the tournament was a milestone for NECDC. He said that the tournament was first envisaged in 2019 but the pandemic happened. He also said that NE Zone, now being the 6th Zone under BCCI, would be selecting players from the NECDC tournament to represent NE in the zonal competitions.
Mamon Majumdar, Apex Council Member BCCI, said that the governing body has eyes set on developing cricket in the NE and encouraged the players to take advantage of it. He also said that the players must improve their performance on the ground so that the NE can get more support from the BCCI.