Vijay Merchant Trophy: Meghalaya sets target of 202 for Nagaland, falls just three wickets short of victory

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 8, 2023

Apandanka N Marak wreaked havoc against Nagaland to take 8/33 in their U-16 boys’ Vijay Merchant Trophy match in Cuttack. However, the three-day match, which was affected by bad weather, ended in a draw today. 

Meghalaya had won the toss on Wednesday and batted first, where they put up a decent first innings score of 264. Riding on Apandanka’s stunning bowling, Meghalaya dismissed Nagaland for 151, therefore claiming a lead of 113. Meghalaya then declared their second innings on 88/9, setting Nagaland a target of 202 for victory. At the close of play, though, the latter were 158/7. 

Gaurav Narleng and Dipayan Nandi led the way for Meghalaya in their first innings, hitting 68 and 63 respectively. 

Apandanka then opened the bowling in Nagaland’s first innings and bulldozed the top and lower orders. Gaurav Jyoti Thakuria claimed the other two wickets for figures of 2/35 as Nagaland suffered a stunning collapse to go from 144/3 to 151 all out in the space of just 3.4 overs. 

That gave Meghalaya a huge first innings lead but they found batting tougher in their second innings.

Kristwal S Marak top-scored with 32 and Rudra Singh Rathore hit 24 but Meghalaya were happy enough with that as they set Nagaland 202 to win with only around a couple of hours of play left.

Aloto Sumi almost singlehandedly carried Nagaland to victory. He struck an unbeaten 106 from just 96 deliveries, with 16 fours and a six, but no other batter managed to get a start. This time Thakuria was the main danger, as he took 4/62, and three other wickets reduced Nagaland to seven down.

It all finished fairly close, with Nagaland 44 runs away and Meghalaya just three wickets from victory.

Meghalaya’s next match will be against Arunachal Pradesh from Monday.