Shillong, Jan 17: An all-round performance saw Meghalaya defeat North East neighbours Arunachal Pradesh by nine wickets in the fourth round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy plate group in Chennai today.
Arunachal won the toss and elected to bat first, which made it the first time that Meghalaya chased this season.
The regular fall of wickets meant that Arunchal, who have yet to taste victory so far this year, could only make 84/8 in their allotted 20 overs, which Meghalay easily chased down in 14.5 overs for the loss of just one wicket.
Meghalaya used five bowlers today, three of whom took two wickets each – Abhay Negi (2/10), Kilco Marak (2/18) and Akash Kumar Choudhary (2/26). Sanjay Yadav (1/12) and Aditya Singhania (1/18) were the other wicket-takers. The unbeaten Akhilesh Sahani was the only Arunachal batsman to offer any real resistance, making 41 from 33 deliveries.
In the chase, Rohit Shah and Ravi Teja put on 66 for the first wicket as they moved at a safe but steady run rate. Shah fell for 26 in the 13th over and was replaced by Yadav, who wasted no time in polishing off the remaining runs required as he bludgeoned 18 from just seven balls faced to take Meghalaya to 88/1 in 14.5 overs. At the other end, Teja finished not out on 36.
Meghalaya now have two wins under their belt but remain in fifth place in the standings. They will take on sixth-placed Sikkim on Tuesday.
