1st NECDC tourney: Manipur in final; Nagaland-Meghalaya rematch on April 2

DIMAPUR — Rain played spoilsport on Saturday as the semi-final match between Nagaland and Meghalaya had to be abandoned because of soggy ground conditions.

The match began at Nagaland Cricket Stadium at around 1:15 pm with the overs reduced to 35 per side.

After winning the toss, Meghalaya put Nagaland team to bat first. Nagaland was reeling at 58 runs for loss of three wickets in 20.4 overs, when the rains interrupted the match. Hem Bahadur Chetri was playing on 22 runs along with Hokaito Zhimomi on four runs after having lost Yugandhar Singh for five runs, Jonathan Rongsen for nine runs and Sedezhalie Rupreo for 11 runs.

The match could not restart as the soggy ground made it impossible for the match to progress further. The on-field umpires and the match officials decided to abandon the match and to have a rematch on April 2 where the venue will be shifted from Sovima Cricket Ground to Nagaland Cricket Stadium at 08:45 am.

In the other semi-final played at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Manipur won the toss and elected to field first. Sikkim had an unfortunate start with their top batting order in the form of Anwesh (eight runs), Arun Chettri (zero runs), Nilesh Lamichanay (six runs), Pranesh Chettri (zero runs) and Palzor Tamang (eight runs) getting out cheaply without troubling the score board. It was Ashish Thapa who steadied the innings and played an important knock of 41 runs. He was ably supported by Lee Yong Lepcha 22 runs, Ankur Malik 26 runs and Tarun Sharma 17 runs to help lift the total of Sikkim for a competitive 144 runs. The match had to be stopped due to rain in the 23rd over with Sikkim batting at 75 runs losing five wickets. In the crease were Ashish Thapa batting on 28 runs and Lee Yong Lepcha on 14 runs and when play resumed after the rain break. Both the players were able to stitch up their 50 runs partnership in 75 balls. Rajkumar Rex Singh and Bisworjit Singh were brilliant with the balling once again as they stitched up three wickets each while Jotin Pheiroijam and Bikash Singh hooked up a wicket each for the Manipur side.

Related: NECDC tournament: Nagaland, Manipur win

Coming in for the run chase, the Manipur batters had an easy sail as their batsmen stood out on the occasion and displayed great maturity to chase down the target of 145 in just 28.3 overs. It was an overall teamwork batting display for Manipur as Karnajit Yumnam (18 runs), Md. Basir Rahman (22 runs), Longjam Ronald (16 runs), Langlonyamba (43 runs), Jotin Pheiroijam (15 runs), Pukhrambam (nine runs) and Kishan Laishram (15 runs) all contributed for a smooth sail to win the match comfortably and reserve their place in the finals of the 1st NECDC Interstate Senior Men’s Friendship Tournament to be played on April 3.