Nagaland’s fourth match at the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023 was played against Uttar Pradesh on Saturday at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Dehradun. Uttar Pradesh set a massive target of 188 runs for Nagaland in their allotted 20 overs.
Rinku Singh was the standout performer, showcasing his brilliance with a blistering 58 runs off just 34 balls, which included four fours and three huge sixes. Other notable contributors for UP included Abhishek Goswami (36 runs), Nitish Rana (32 runs), Sameer Rizvi (26 runs), and Shiva Singh (18 runs).
For the Nagaland bowling unit, Karan Tewatiya looked good and managed to scalp 2 wickets early on. However, in his final over, Rinku Singh, in exceptional form, dismantled Tewatiya, hammering him for an agonizing 27 runs.
Khrievitso Kense emerged as Nagaland’s star performer with the ball, taking 2 wickets while conceding just 18 runs and delivering 9 dot balls. Kense’s notable contributions included dismissing the dangerous duo of Nitish Rana and Abhishek Goswami and executing a crucial runout of the in-form Sameer Rizvi.
In the run chase, Nagaland faced disappointment as they could only muster 100 runs on the board. The opening pair of Joshua Ben Ozukum (15 runs) and Sedezhalie Rupreo (18 runs) displayed promise early on, hitting a couple of boundaries off the elite UP bowler in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, Prashant Veer emerged as the key figure for Uttar Pradesh, delivering a memorable performance. Veer claimed three wickets in his three overs, conceding only 7 runs and delivering 14 dot balls with an outstanding economy rate of 2.33. The dismissal of Jonathan Rongsen (15 runs) through an LBW decision proved crucial, potentially a very close call.
Despite a valiant effort by Jaganath Sinivas, who fought a lone battle and scored 31 runs off 17 balls, it proved to be too little too late for Nagaland.
Nagaland’s next challenge will be against Karnataka on 23 October at Maharana Pratap College Ground, Dehradun, with the match scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM IST.