Meghalaya were trailing Manipur by 111 runs at stumps on the first day of their opening Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 four-day match in Bhubaneshwar today.
At the close of play, Meghalaya, who won the toss and chose to field, were in a spot of bother at 86/6 in response to Manipur’s first innings total of 197 all out.
At one point Manipur were in danger of total collapse at 33/4 after Bharat Gurung removed three batters in the space of four deliveries, thus only just missing out on a hat-trick.
However, Jotin Pheiroijam batted splendidly to make 131, which means that he was responsible for scoring two out of every three runs for Manipur. Wickets fell around him but he carried on until he was caught by Waldo Sangma off the bowling of Raghav Magotra.
In the end, Gurung finished with figures of 3/55, while Magotra (2/25), PM Santhosh (2/27) and Manish Sharma (2/55) all claimed a couple each.
Meghalaya’s openers Anmol Sunar and Mrinal Das started off pretty well but the former was dismissed for 15 and none of his replacements at the crease were able to get into double figures as Manipur’s Kadamjit snatched five wickets in just eight overs to devastate Meghalaya.
However, the team had a hero of their own in the form of Das, who ended the day on 49 not out with Meghalaya’s hopes resting on his shoulders. At the close, he had Gurung (5 not out) for company and they will aim to, as a pair, get as close as they can to Manipur’s total tomorrow morning.
