Nagaland will take on Manipur at the ongoing first North East Cricket Development Committee (NECDC) Interstate Senior Men’s Friendship Tournament on April 3 at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima at 12 noon. Chief Minister of Nagaland and convenor NECDC, Neiphiu Rio will grace the final match and the prize distribution ceremony as the special guest.
A press release issued by Nagaland Cricket Association (NCA) media & communication cell informed that the semi-finals match between Nagaland and Meghalaya had to be abandoned yet again for the second time after rain created spoilt sport. Owing to this result, Nagaland as table toppers of Group-2 will proceed to the final to take on mighty Manipur.
Earlier, Nagaland having won the toss decided to field first and put the Meghalaya team to bat. Everything seemed to be working as planned for team Nagaland as the bowlers were able to restrict and check the opening batsmen from Meghalaya and in the process, they got out Raj Biswa, Arien Bonchang and Wallambok Nongkhlaw cheaply for a score of 1, 6 and 0 respectively.
Meanwhile, Kishan Lyngdoh (22 runs) and Kevin (24 runs) steadied the innings for their team. Nagaland bowlers had a great start with the ball as Hopongkyu Sangtam, Nagaho Chishi and Imliwati shared 2 wickets each and Tahmeed Rahman took a lone wicket. However, it was the late cameo from Jaskirat (43 runs) and Akash (45 runs) who also remained not out to take Meghalaya to a big total of 168 runs on the scoreboard losing 9 wickets after the match got reduced to 38 overs per side.
Nagaland run chase could not progress as rain interrupted the play with Hem Bahadur Chetri batting on 6 runs and Yugandhar Singh batting on 15 runs with 23 total runs on the board in 9.1 overs without losing any wickets. NCA has invited all sports lovers and supporters to be a part of the final match at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima and the entry for the public will be from Gate No. 2.
1st NECDC: Nagaland to face Manipur in final today
