Shillong, Nov 18: Led by a century from Gaurav Narleng (128) and an impenetrable knock by Angkit ‘The Rock’ Tamang (35 not out), Meghalaya defeated Sikkim by two wickets on a thrilling third day to win their Cooch Behar Trophy 2025-26 plate group match at the MCA Ground here today.
Three results – Meghalaya win, Sikkim win or tie – were all possible right until the very end of the contest, that is until No. 10 Apandanka Marak drove the ball beautifully for four to bring up Meghalaya’s victory. The rising anxiety turned to relief and joy as the Meghalaya players and officials rushed out of the dugout to celebrate a hugely impressive victory.
Chasing 260 to win, Meghalaya resumed play in the morning on 53/3 and reached the target for the loss of eight wickets in the second session. To recap, Sikkim were bundled out for 76 on Day 1 and Meghalaya were also then dismissed for 108 in their first innings. Sikkim then responded brilliantly with 291 in their second innings.
At the start of play today the hosts were further reduced to 56/4 before and then lost Heiyoomiki Ryngkhlem for 18. At that stage Meghalaya were 92/5 when Angkit joined Gaurav at the crease.
Together these two almost saw Meghalaya to victory. Gaurav was on 24 from 22 balls when they joined hands and continued to don the role of attacking batter, while Angkit’s main duty was to keep him company. The pair made for a very successful combination with 136 runs added for the sixth wicket.
Just before lunch Gaurav had a bit of luck as he was put down while on 96 at deep midwicket. Sikkim kept spreading the field when he was on strike to allow him to take singles but he went for the boundary and almost paid for it with his wicket. At that stage Meghalaya still needed 70-plus to win, so it was a highly consequential dropped chance.
Post-lunch Gaurav brought up his century with an aerial shot over the head of mid-on for two but he was finally dismissed for 128 (off 137 balls, 17x4s, 2x6s) when trying to sweep part-time spinner Arihanta Sachdeva (1/12).
This left Meghalaya requiring 32 with four wickets in hand, all tailenders. Angkit took on more of the strike but there was still work to do by his partners and things got nervy for Meghalaya. Mewankitbok Kharpuri, who had top-scored in the first innings with 34, was caught in the slips this time for 2.
Even when the new ball was available Sikkim preferred to stick to the old one and the spin bowlers. The game was on a knife edge by this point but Ashish Kumar Lohar’s 14 seemed to have done enough to end Sikkim’s hopes. However, he went for too big a shot and was bowled by Bhavya (2/33) with Meghalaya needing four to win.
There were four deliveries remaining in Bhavya’s over with Apandanka to face them. The first three were dot balls and it seemed likely the last would be defended to give Angkit the strike in the next over. Not so, for Apandanka unleashed a drive that any top order batter would have been proud of and these proved to be the winning runs.
In the end Angkit was not out on 35 made from 176 deliveries. Although he did not find success with the ball in this match, he played a captain’s knock with the bat and deserves plenty of credit for the win.
Speaking afterwards, Meghalaya Cricket Association President Nababrata Bhattacharjee said, “An amazing victory by our U-19 team, reflecting true grit and top quality fighting spirit and teamwork. This season not only our U-19s but all other categories have shown excellent fighting spirit and resilience. This augurs well for cricket in our state.”
Meghalaya will now travel to Anand, Gujarat, to face Manipur from 23 November.
