DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 30 (MExN): Nagaland lost by an innings and 230 runs in the Round-II Plate game against Goa. Nagaland could manage only 160 runs in two innings in the 4-day match, which started on November 29 at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima, Dimapur.
Resuming from the day 1 score of 349 for 6, Goa lost the last 4 wickets quickly in the morning on day 2 managing to add only 41, taking its first innings total to 390 in 92.5 overs.
The Goa innings was held together by a middle order resurgence that saw a century from Mohit Redkar (119), Kaushal Hattangadi (90) and Ayush Verlakar (64) following a poor show from the top order.
For Nagaland, Arjun claimed 4 that included the prized wicket of Redkar. Hopongkyu finished with 3 wickets, Rahul- 2 wickets and Ranjen- 1.
Nagaland’s first innings with the bat lasted 18.1 overs (all out) for a paltry 52 on board. It saw 5 ducks and tailender Odilemba scoreless at the fall of the last wicket. Only two batsmen reached double figures— Afzal- 14 runs, Arjun - 13 runs.
Shubham Tari (5) and Harsh Jethaji took 9 wickets between them. One was a runout.
Asked to follow-on, Nagaland fared better in the second, lasting 44.2 overs, while scoring 108. There was a change in the batting lineup with Afzal and Vipul Kapoor opening the innings. First innings opener Shamphri batted at number 3.
78 of the total was scored by the top 4— Afzal- 13, Vipul Kapoor- 13, Shamphri- 15 and Vedansh- 37. The batting collapsed after the fall of the 4th wicket when the score read 87 in 28.3 overs. Harsh Jethaji returned to torment the Nagaland batsmen claiming 4 more finishing with a match haul of 8 wickets.
Century-maker Redkar also claimed 4, while the other two wickets were claimed by Shubham Tari and Ruthvik Naik.
Nagaland will face Arunachal Pradesh in its next Plate game at Golaghat, Assam from December 6-9.
