Vinoo Mankad Trophy : Manipur's winning ways end with 5-wicket loss to Nagaland
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 16 2018:
Manipur which enjoyed landslide wins in the last three matches at the ongoing Vinoo Mankad Trophy 2018 ended their winning way today as they went down to Nagaland by 5 wickets at Vikash Cricket Ground, Bhubaneshwar.
Manipur which notched up a huge 126 run victory over Mizoram two days back could not do well today and bundled out for a paltry 149 runs in the first innings after electing to bat first.
Shubham Chauhan and Hrithik Kanojia had a promising start and helped Manipur reach 50 run mark in 12 overs but the following order failed to face the Nagaland bowlers.
Shubham gathered 42 runs before he departed in the 71 st delivery while Hrithik Kanojia was able to score 36 runs off 67 balls.
Johnson C (18) and Ng Jameson (20) tried to build momentum after Sohail's lbw but Nagaland bowlers succeeded in breaking the partnership to hold Manipur for 149 runs 45.3 overs.
Bidash also contributed 13 runs in this innings.
Chiranjivi of Nagaland enjoyed a 4 wicket haul in this innings offering 27 runs in 8.3 overs while Tohuka picked up two wickets in 6 overs giving Manipur 20 runs.
Arpit Kushwaha and Yash Tandon also claimed one wicket each for Nagaland.
Though it was a sluggish start for Nagaland, the middle order batsmen played responsibly and 27 runs extra from faulty Manipur bowling helped them reach the target in 38 overs at the cost of 5 wickets.
Vipul Kumar was sent off an lbw by Rex of Manipur with 1 runs in his name while Shamphri W managed 24 runs off 47 balls before he went off.
Manipur's Rex also had Upanshu Verma (5) lbw off very soon but Chiranjivi (40) and Hem (33) helped ease Nagaland to the target in 37.5 overs with 5 wickets left in the hand.
Bidash of Manipur also dismissed Chiranjivi and Joshua C of Nagaland and maintained a perfect 4.57 economy in 7 overs to become best bowler while Sadananda picked up one wicket in 8 overs he bowled.
Earlier, Manipur have secured an emphatic 176 run victory over Sikkim in their opening match on October 6 and a huge 134 run victory over Arunachal Pradesh on October 9 in their second tie.
Manipur face Bihar in the next match on October 20 at Railway Stadium, Bhubaneshwar.