Kevin Christopher hit a second consecutive century to give Meghalaya a 210-run first innings lead over Manipur on the third day of their U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy match in Surat today.
After making 137 against Sikkim in the previous match, Meghalaya’s captain followed that up with 155 from 238 deliveries against Manipur today.
“Congratulations to our U-23 skipper Kevin for another consecutive century – two in two matches,” Meghalaya Cricket Association President Nababrata Bhattacharjee said. “Sterling performance of patience and maturity. He’s an inspiring cricketer full of resilience and he is the future of cricket in our state.”
Kevin was not out overnight on 57, with Meghalaya on 230/4 in response to Manipur’s 257/10, but he lost his partner Joydeepan Deb (29) early on this morning. Great credit has to go to the tailenders, however, as they held off the Manipur bowlers with aplomb.
Manish Sharma struck 44 from 93, going toe-to-toe in terms of runs scored in the sixth wicket partnership of 90 runs, of which Kevin contributed 45. Once out, Manish was replaced at the crease by PM Santhosh, who clipped 51 runs from 88 balls.
Kevin became the seventh batter to fall after he was trapped lbw to bring an end to a wonderful innings that included 20 fours. He went with Meghalaya having scored 409 but the tail continued to wag and the team were able to add a further 58 runs before being bowled out for 467 in 130.4 overs.
With about an hour’s play left in the day, Manipur’s goal was to hold out for as long as possible before stumps. Despite their efforts, they could not resist the bowling of Manish (who bagged 6/50 in the first innings) for long and he claimed 2/7 in 8 overs after opening the bowling. One of his wickets was that of Champion, who scored a century of his own for Manipur in their first outing with the bat.
His dismissal should give a tremendous boost to Meghalaya as they have one more day to wrap up the game, while Manipur will be battling hard for a draw.
