Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Nagaland beats Arunachal by 79 runs

Dimapur, Nov. 8 (EMN): Playing their 4th match on Monday at ACA Cricket Ground Malapadu, Nagaland defeated Arunachal by 79 runs at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Nagaland managed to post a total of 165 runs for seven wickets after winning the toss, which is their highest total so far in the ongoing tournament. The team started off well with an opening partnership of 49 runs between captain Jonathan Rongsen and Joshua Ben Ozukum, an update from NCA informed.

However, the captain (27 runs) was sent back to the pavilion by Niia, scored a brilliant 91 runs off 54 balls missing a well deserved century by just a whisker. His fine innings of 91 runs included eight 4s and four 6s, it stated.

For Arunachal, Doria picked three wickets, Akhilesh Saina took two wickets and Niia, while RB Bishnoi claimed a wicket each. Arunachal looked good in the beginning as their openers Doria and Song Tacho had a 50 runs opening partnership. However, young leggy Khrievitso Kense broke their partnership (53 runs) as he picked the wicket of Doria, it said.

Following this, Imliwati  then bowled a destructive spell  as he picked three wickets on his first over, which left Arunachal middle order batsmen in a dilemma and they failed to recover from the impact as they were bundled out by 86 in just 15 overs by the spinners, it read.

For Nagaland, Imliwati took four wickets (4/13), Khrievitso Kense (2/15) & Hokaito (2/5) picked two wickets each while Jonathan Rongsen (1/2) claimed a wicket.

Nagaland will play its final match against Tripura at Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground, Mulapadu at 8:30 am on Nov. 9.