Shillong, Oct 2: Some late drama towards the end could not prevent Meghalaya from losing to Manipur in their Vinoo Mankad Trophy match by four wickets in Ranchi today.
Meghalaya’s match yesterday against Mizoram in the Plate Group was washed out and today’s game had a delayed start and was therefore reduced to 27 overs a side.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Meghalaya were able to go at almost five runs an over before being bowled out for 132 in 26.4 overs.
Meghalaya brought in two new opening batters for this fixture, Anmol Sunar (14) and Ayushman Das (24). But it was Josiah Momin who was the star for the state, striking a rapid 34 off 26 deliveries. Number six Rohit Yadav also contributed a handy 22.
Manipur also had a good start in the chase and appeared to be cruising until two wickets right towards the end appeared to give Meghalaya a glimmer of hope. However, there were too few runs to defend and Manipur managed to get over the line with four wickets and 3.5 overs in hand.
Four bowlers bagged a wicket each for Meghalaya – Purav Agarwal (1/18), PM Santosh (1/26), Waldo A Sangma (1/28) and Bharat Gurung (1/31). The next and final match for Meghalaya will be against Sikkim on Monday.
