1st MNCA Super Plate Tournament : KSDO beat KCC by 5 wickets to keep semi-finals hopes alive, RCA crush TCMDC
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 29 2022: KSDO, Kiyamgei kept their semi-final hopes alive in the 1st MNCA Super Plate Tournament as they thump KCC, Kongba Bazar by 5 wickets today for the fifth win in 6 matches at Luwangpokpa Cricket Stadium.

In a match that was reduced to 30 overs an innings, KSDO won the toss and chose to field first.

They restricted KCC to 100 for 9 and chased down the target within 24.4 overs with 5 wickets left in hand.

The win earned the Kiyamgei side the second place in Group A standings with 10 points as YWC enjoyed pole position with similar 10 points off 5 games.

KCC batters were given a torrid time by the KSDO bowlers from the start.

Even as KCC openers stood firm for a while, KSDO pacer Tarique Aziz removed Ningombam Tony Singh on 8 in the 5th delivery of the 6th over before trapping Rohen Singh lbw the very next ball on golden duck to reduce KCC to 19-2 after 6 overs.

1st MNCA Super Plate Tournament

Bamza then bowled out Keisham Mranojit on 8 to dent the KCC innings before Nameirakpam Arbin Singh departed on 9-ball duck to Sangomshumpham Shah Nawaz in the 10th over as the scoreboard read 29-4 .

After the flurry of wickets, Hijam Boba (28 off 43 balls) and Nongmaithem Dijiraj Singh (6 off 32) soaked up some pressure and tried to steady the KCC innings but they fell to keep things together for long as Dijiraj was lbw out to Md Shamir Khan before Boba was bowled out by Hamza who returned with the bowling figures of 2/21 in 6 overs which include a maiden.

The situation further worsen after Kongbrailatpam Sanjit was run out on 8 by Md Arif Khan as Tarique Aziz rose yet again to dismiss Loktongbam Ozzy on 6-ball duck and Yumnam Sheiteendra on 19 to finish with the best bowling figures of 4/15 in 6 overs which include a maiden.

In reply, KSDO had a shaky start as they were reduced to 28-2 in the 8th over as Singthoi Singh Nandeibam snapped both the openers, Md Shamir Khan for 22 and Tarique Aziz on 4.However, Hamza who enjoyed a two wicket haul earlier, kept going the work finding boundaries 6 times (4 fours and 2 sixes) to add a remarkable 38 off 35 balls.

His compatriot, Abdul Rafique also added 17 off 30 balls before Nawaz Sharif (13) and Shahjahan (1) steered the team to the target.

KCC's Rohen who removed Hamza also had Md Arif Khan dismissed on duck right before the victory, returned with best bowling figures of 2/5 in 3 overs of which two are maiden overs.

Hamza who shone with both the ball and the bat was adjudged man of the match.

Elsewhere at Model Hr Secondary and Oriental College Ground, RCA posted their fourth win in 6 matches beating TCMDC, Thongju Chingonglei Makhong Pechu Lampak by 87 runs.

RCA had won their opening match against YUCC before going down to RULE and MPSC.

They are on a recovery path extending their winning streak to three today after the loss and are now second in Group B standings.

TCMDC were the toss winners today and bowled out RCA for 143 within 24.5 overs as Kongbrailatpam Kalyan Sharma ripped through RCA batting line up on the way to his 4/23 finish in 5 overs.

Syed Hussain was the highest run getter for RCA with 44 runs followed by Md Aqeel (24) and Imran Khan (23) .

Laishram Vivekanda who gave TCMDC the breakthrough early by removing Aziz Mirza on 5 also finished with a bowling figures of 2/14 as Huirongbam Babulu snatched another two wickets.

The game however had an unexpected turn as TCMDC were skittled out for a paltry total of 56 runs in 18 overs with pace-spin duo of Aziz Mirza (3/12 in 4 overs) and Naesh Hussain (3/14 in 4 overs) derailing the chase by picking wickets in regular intervals.

The Lilong side bowlers bowled so well that none of the TCMDC batters could add a double digit score in the innings.

Bm Sabakhan also scalped twice for 13 runs in his spell of 4 overs in this innings which saw Thongam Nganthoi (9), Laishram Vivekananda (8) and Kongbrailatpam Kalyan (6) leading the scoring chart for TCMDC.

Aziz Mirza of RCA who picked up three wickets and added 5 runs in their innings, was adjudged man of the match.

March 30 matches
YUCC vs KASC at Luwangpokpa Cricket Ground
MAF vs THAU at Model Hr Secondary and Oriental College Ground
YWC (L) vs PSC at Langthabal Public Ground .