Pheiroijam Singh from Manipur becomes fourth Indian to take nine wickets on debut

Gangtok, Dec. 14 (PTI): Sixteen-year-old Manipur medium pacer Pheiroijam Singh on Wednesday became the fourth Indian to grab nine wickets on first-class debut in their Ranji Trophy plate group match against Sikkim at Rangpo near here.

The teenager who returned with figures of 22-5-69-9 to join an elite list that has Vasant Ranjane (9/35, 1956-57), Amarjith Singh (9/45, 1971-72) and Sanjay Yadav (9/52, 2019-20), all of whom have claimed nine wickets on their first-class debut.

Manipur bowled out Sikkim for 220.

It was the 10th best in he first-class cricket history and the fourth best by an Indian on debut.

It was a one-way traffic for Pheiroijam who triggered the collapse on the second day as Sikkim continued to lose wickets from being 58 for no loss overnight.

He nearly became the first Indian to take all 10 wickets on first-class debut but it was Rex Rajkumar who dismissed Anwesh Sharma (39) to fold Sikkim’s innings in 73.1 overs. Pheiroijam, albeit, played a role in the dismissal — by taking the catch of Sharma.

Englishman Albert Moss (10/38 in 1889-90) and Fitz Hinds (10/36; 1900-01) are the only two in the history of cricket to bowl all 10 wickets in an innings on first-class debut.

Sikkim however had the upper hand and took a slender first innings lead and reduced Manipur to 59/4 at stumps on day two. Overall, Manipur lead by just 25 runs with six wickets intact.

Sumit Singh returned with figures of 3/23 as Manipur batters struggled to get a partnership going.

Brief Scores

At Rangpo: Manipur 186 and 59/4; 19 overs (Basir Rahman 23 batting; Sumit Singh 3/23). Sikkim 220; 73.1 overs (Sumit Singh 47, Arun Chettri 41; Pheiroijam Singh 9/69). Manipur lead by 25 runs. Match to continue.

At Patna: Arunachal Pradesh 212. Bihar 367/4; 103 overs (Adhiraj Johri 118, Yashasvi Rishav 65, Sakibul Gani 66 batting). Bihar lead by 155 runs. Match to continue.

At Nadiad: Mizoram 252 and 37/3; 23 overs. Meghalaya 171; 67.4 overs (Kishan Lyngdoh 40, Rajesh Bishnoi 35 batting; Avinash Yadav 6/39). Mizoram lead by 118 runs. Match to continue.