Meghalaya cruised to victory over Manipur by a massive 152 runs on the fourth and final day of their U-19 men’s Cooch Behar Trophy match at the MCA Ground in Polo here today.
Victory means that Meghalaya finished second in the Plate Group, behind only Nagaland (the one team they lost to in the round robin stage) and have qualified for the semifinals.
In this match, Meghalaya had batted first and scored 320/10 before bowling out Manipur for 267. The hosts then produced 216 in their second innings, which set Manipur a target of 270 for victory.
The visitors began the chase today morning and approached their second innings cautiously. However, that did not stop them from losing a string of wickets and they were bowled out for 117 less than an hour into the second session.
All the Meghalaya bowlers used today took wickets. Off spinner Kishlay Vishlux, the last introduced into the attack, scalped 2/10 in 6 overs, while Avinash Rai bagged 2/17 in 7 before lunch. The big catch for him was the wicket of Md Aqeel Ahamed, as he had cracked a century for Manipur in their first innings but was dismissed for just 4 this time around.
Shavian Blah (2/21 in 15.5 overs), Angkit Tamang (2/55 in 12) and Balgrik Sangma (1/12 in 3) were the other wicket takers. With his haul of five wickets in the first innings, Shavian ended with impressive match figures of 7/88.
Meghalaya will face third-placed Arunachal Pradesh in their semifinal, which will be in Shillong at a date to be announced. Meghalaya had beaten Arunachal in an away game earlier by an innings and 76 runs.
