Abhishek Kumar bowled Meghalaya to a famous victory by 180 runs over Arunachal Pradesh on the morning of the fourth and final day of their U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy match at the MCA Ground here today.
With 5/41 in Arunachal’s first innings and 6/57 in the second, the tall fast bowler Abhishek netted match figures of 11/98, a truly remarkable performance and a testament to his hard work and commitment.
Victory was made difficult for Meghalaya as they had to overturn a first innings deficit. To recap, the hosts were dismissed for 203 on the first day and then saw the opposition reach 224 all out. Swastic Chettri’s 190 not out then helped Meghalaya to 368 in their second innings, which set Arunachal a target of 340 to win.
A victory for the visitors seemed unlikely after they were reduced to 89/6 by close of play yesterday, with Abhishek taking three of those wickets to fall.
He added another three to his kitty this morning from the pavilion end, with the action wrapped up before 10am. Among his wickets today were two of the most settled Arunachal batters – Mibom Mosu (16) and Teli Rade (46), both of whom were bowled, the latter with his middle stump dramatically uprooted from the ground.
Teli hit nine fours in his cameo of an innings but Arunachal were unable to stop the Meghalaya tide. The last wicket to fall saw Manish Sharma (2/9) reintroduced into the attack and his second delivery was lofted high in the air, with Bipin Kumar Ray completing a good running catch near the boundary rope at long on.
Present at the ground to see the Meghalaya boys over the finish line were Meghalaya Cricket Association President Nababrata Bhattacharjee and Honorary Treasurer Dhrubajyoti Thakuria. They both congratulated the players and support staff on a job well done and encouraged them to aim to be plate group champions.
Meghalaya have won all four matches played so far and have qualified for the semifinals, though there is one more round robin game to go, which will be against Nagaland at home from 4 February.
