Dimapur, February 27 : Nagaland today pulled off a thriller against hosts Meghalaya at the 1st NE T20 Tourney played at the polo grounds in Shillong.
The hosts were defeated by a tantalizingly close margin of 8 runs after Nagaland won the toss and put on board 133 runs.
Openers give steady start
Captain Atha C Angami won the toss for the third straight time and had no hesitation to bat and make the opposition chase the score.
Going in with the unchanged squad that defeated Manipur on Thursday, Nagaland opened its innings with Deepak Sinha and Akhrietuo. Both openers were cautious and gave the team a good start putting on 36 runs on the board. Akhrietuo was eventually run out in the sixth over before making a quick fire 20 in 14 balls.
Coming in one down Hokaito made a brief 7 runs from 7 balls and was caught in the 8th over. Meghalaya did well to keep Nagaland’s run rate at just over 6 runs per over, giving away 66 runs in the first 10 overs. Opener Deepak steadied the innings scoring a well crafted 30, while the other batsman who made the bat talk was Imliwati scoring 20 runs.
The most productive overs for the visitors were the 11th and 12th overs where Nagaland amassed 23 runs. By the end of the 12th over Nagaland reached a peak of 7.41 runs per over, however they could not sustain the momentum losing wickets regularly. Nagaland finally put on board a respectable score of 133 runs losing 9 of its batsmen. For the home side B. Pasha picked up 2 wickets.
Down to the wire
Chasing a target of 134 at a required run rate of 6.7 runs per over, Meghalaya was in the hunt building partnerships to chase down the total. For the home team Mark Ingty top scored with 29 runs, and useful contributions made by Jason scoring 22 while Asha made 20 runs. Ao Sashi bowled the 19th over with Meghalaya then needing 25 off the last two overs. Ao Sashi bowled a tight over giving away 8 runs leaving the hosts to chase another 17 runs in the penultimate over. Pinku Deb bowled well in the last over giving away only 8 runs to seal the match for Nagaland.
Pinku Deb, man of the match in the previous game against Manipur continued with where he had left off and bowled another good spell today claiming two wickets while Jalal, Hokaito and Aosashi picked up one each to restrict Meghalaya to 125 for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Deepak Sinha was declared the man of the match. Deepak has been the most consistent of the batsman from Nagaland scoring 26 in the first game followed by another 26 in the game against Manipur and 30 in today’s match.
Manipur’s hopes dashed
As Nagaland played hosts Meghalaya, Manipur waited anxiously as the match progressed. Manipur had an outside chance of making it to the finals if Meghalaya had chased down Nagaland’s total of 133 in under 17 overs. However that was not to be as Meghalaya lost its way due to a tight spell by Nagaland bowlers.
Easy win for Assam
Earlier in the first match of the day Assam steamrolled over Sikkim winning the match comfortably by 6 wickets. Batting first Sikkim put on board 101 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Devender top scored making 30 runs, while Paijor scored 17 and Gaurav 15 runs. For Assam Kubber and Paijor picked up two wickets each. Assam with a superlative batting prowess chased down the total in 14.3 overs losing just four wickets. Man of the match A. Sinha top scored for Assam with 42 runs while P. Debnath made 19 runs. Sikkim’s G. Dharma and S. Purkastyo shared the wickets taking two wickets each.
Finals today
The finals will be played on February 28, the match beginning 10:30 am onwards where former speaker of Lok Sabha P A Sangma is expected to witness the match as chief guest. Nagaland team management is hopeful of a good performance in Saturday’s final against favourites Assam. A Rehman from the NCA accompanying the team has expressed hope of a good showing in the finals and hoped the the Naga student community in Shillong would continue to come in large numbers to support the team. The support from the student community has been a morale booster for the players, he said.
Captain Atha sustain injury
According to a late information received here from sources, captain Atha C Angami has sustained injury and is a doubtful starter in the playing eleven tomorrow. However team officials confirmed that he will undergo a fitness test Saturday morning after which the playing eleven will be decided. Team officials confirmed that in the event of the captain failing the fitness test before the match specialist batsman Abemo would replace Angami. Team officials are keeping their fingers crossed until the practice session tomorrow morning after which Atha will undergo fitness test.
At the ongoing tournament Saturday’s match will be their first encounter with Assam, which boasts of a long history as a cricket playing state compared to Nagaland. Team Nagaland will face its toughest challenge on Saturday in the quest to be the best team at the 1st NE T20 Tourney.Morung Express News
