Shillong, Apr 7: Meghalaya secured a six-wicket victory against Arunachal Pradesh in Group B of the NECDC U-23 Women’s T20 Tournament in Rangpo, Sikkim today.
Meghalaya lost their opener to hosts Sikkim yesterday by 67 runs and thus needed to win today to keep their hopes of progressing to the next round alive.
Arunachal won the toss and chose to bat but were restricted to 99/7 in their 20 overs. Their skipper Nabam Yakar top-scored with 21 while Cheanchi K Sangma took 3/14 in 4 overs, which was a crucial spell in keeping the Arunachal total low.
Monica Singh started with 22 for Meghalaya at the top of the order and, though the team lost a couple of wickets cheaply, Suriti Kumari Ray (36 not out) and Jayshree Singh (14) ensured that the result was never in doubt.
Suriti hit the winning run as Meghalaya reached 100/4 in 16.4 overs.
Cheanchi earned Player of the Match honours for her terrific bowling in the Arunachal innings.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya did not have the best of starts in the NECDC U-19 Men’s One Day Tournament where they lost to Manipur by 144 runs in Dimapur. Meghalaya will face hosts Nagaland in their second Group A match tomorrow.
Both tournaments are organised by the North East Cricket Development Council (NECDC). Past editions of the tournaments have been for senior players but this year the NECDC took the decision to make the two tournaments U-19 for men and U-23 for women to provide match opportunities for these age groups as exposure and number of BCCI tournaments is restricted when compared to senior category teams.
