It was touch-and-go for a little while but Meghalaya held their nerve to defeat Mizoram by three wickets on the fourth and final day of their U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy match in Nadiad, Gujarat, today.
Kevin Christopher once again played a captain’s knock and, while not his highest score this season by any means, the 40 not out proved to be crucial as he saw his team over the finish line.
To recap, Meghalaya dismissed Mizoram for 220 in their first innings and then responded with 259. Meghalaya then bowled out their opponents for 232 in the second innings, giving them a target of 194 for victory, which they accomplished today for the loss of seven wickets.
Resuming on 30/2, Nishanta Chakraborty (39 from 134 deliveries) and Bipin Kumar Ray (26 from 80) spent a decent amount of time out in the middle and put on 59 runs for the third wicket.
However, although batters continued to make starts, Mizoram were able to always stay in the game by taking wickets at regular intervals and by the end, Meghalaya’s mainstay Kevin had only the bowlers for company.
PM Santhosh did his bit, however, with an unbeaten 13 from 28, while Kevin earned the majority of the runs to get closer to the target, with his 51 balls including four fours and a six, the latter being only the second of the entire match.
Kevin, who has struck two centuries already, is now fourth in the nationwide runs list with 423 in three matches.
Meghalaya have now won all their three matches thus far and are tied with Nagaland on 19 points. The Meghalaya boys will now return home to face Arunachal Pradesh from 28 January.
