Shillong, Jan 5: Meghalaya were defeated by Manipur in the final of the plate group of the U-16 boys’ Vijay Merchant Trophy in Jamshedpur today. The three-day match began on Wednesday with Meghalaya winning the toss and choosing to bat first.
They then made 111 all out in their first innings before Manipur amassed 293/10. Meghalaya were then bowled out for 147 in the second innings to give Manipur victory by an innings and 35 runs.
Manipur have been the most dominant team all season and Meghalaya had already lost to them in the round robin stage. In this match, only Rudra Singh Rathore (49) in the first innings and Dipayan Nandi (55) in the second were able to perform well with the bat. With the ball, Aashish Kumar Lohar (3/61) and Apandanka Marak (3/68) returned the best figures for Meghalaya.
Dipayan scored the most runs for Meghalaya over the course of the tournament, with 393 and four half-centuries. However, it was in the bowling department that the state really shone this year, with Apandanka Marak storming towards the top of the wicket-taking charts nationwide, with 48 scalps to his credit. Gaurav Jyoti Thakuria was another successful bowler, having taken 31 wickets this season.
Overall, though, it was a very strong team performance that saw the Meghalaya boys overcome a first match defeat to Sikkim and then draw with Nagaland before winning their next two games against Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
Their last round robin encounter saw them lose to Manipur but they had done enough to qualify for the semifinals where they defeated Nagaland for a place in the final.
