Nagaland and Manipur have registered their respective matches at the ongoing North East Cricket Development Committee on Friday played at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium and Sovima Cricket ground. Both Nagaland and Manipur have topped their respective group.
Nagaland beat Sikkim
Host Nagaland took on Sikkim at the other ground at Sovima elected to bat first after winning the toss in a reduced to 33 overs per side because of soggy outfield.
A perfect captain’s knock of 102 runs off 87 balls from Jonathan Rongsen saw Nagaland post an imposing total of 183 runs on the board to set Sikkim a target of 184
Sikkim bowler Palzor Tamang picked up 4 crucial wickets, while Lee Yong Lepcha also picked up 3 important wickets even as Jonathan Rongsen dazzled with the bat.
Sedezhalie Rupreo (24), Tahmeed Rahman (14) runs and Hem Bahadur Chetri (13) were the other notable run getters for Nagaland.
Faced with an uphill task and field condition, Sikkim had the worst possible start as their opening trio of Pankaj Rawat, Arun Chettri and Nilesh Lamicha made their way back to the pavilion with a meagre score of 3, 2 and 6 runs respectively.
There was however some fightback as Ashish Thapa (11), Anwesh (28) , Palzor Tamang (22) runs, Lee Yong Lepcha 18 runs and Ankur Malik (30) built important partnerships to comeback fight for the Sikkimese team.
Sikkim could have got home with the run chase if not for the Nagaland Spinners who spun the web and took the wickets of Anwesh, Palzor Tamang, Lee Yong Lepcha and Ankur Malik and drew the curtains on Sikkim. Nagaland bowlers Nagaho Chishi, Tahmeed Rahman and Jonathan Rongsen took 2 wickets while Khrievitso Kense and Hoponkyu Sangtam settled for 1 wicket each.
Nagaland Captain Jonathan Rongsen dazzling performance with the bat and ball, scoring 102 runs and 2 wickets made him the undisputed man of the match. With this win, Nagaland topped Group-B and will play Meghalaya on 1st April 2023 at Sovima Cricket Ground at 08:45 am. Manipur will play Sikkim, runners-up of Group-2 at Nagaland Cricket Stadium on April 1 at 08:45 am. Nagaland will play Meghalaya, runners-up of Group-1 at Sovima Cricket Stadium on April 1 at 08:45 am.
Manipur beat Meghalaya
On the back of a convincing win against Arunachal Pradesh by 8 wickets in the last match, Meghalaya who won the toss, chose to bat first. They got off to a flying start with Kishan Lyngdoh (37 runs) and Arien Bonchang (55 runs) providing a dream start. Manipur’s bowling which showed discipline in the last match against Arunachal Pradesh, however and slowed the progress of Meghalaya.
Meghalaya batters- Swarajeet (11), Anish Charak (17), Lerry (13) and Sanvert B Kurkalang (12) could not convert their start into big scores. Manipur bowlers Bisworjit Singh and Kishan Laishram picked up 3 wickets each while Jotin Pheiroijam, Rajkumar Rex Singh and Bikash Singh picked up a wicket each to reduce Meghalaya to 178 runs all out in 48.3 overs.
In reply, Manipur reached the target in 38.1 overs losing 4 wickets. Md Basir Rahman and Langlonyamba both managed to complete their half centuries, while Kamnajit Yumnam and Longjam Ronald scored 19 and 11 runs respectively. Md Sultan Karim (4) and Jotin Pheiroijam (30 not out) took Manipur team home to top Group-A table thus qualifying for the Semi-finals. Manipur will now face the runner up of Group-B Sikkim on April 1 at Nagaland Cricket Stadium. Manipur captain Langlonyamba was awarded the man of the match for his 50 runs and explicit leadership role inside the field. Manipur tops group-1 to qualify for the semi-finals with Meghalaya as the runners-up.
