Shillong, November 17: An unbeaten 150 from captain Denree Lepcha helped Sikkim set Meghalaya a competitive target in their U-19 men’s Cooch Behar Trophy plate group match at the MCA Ground here today.
Resuming their second innings on 46/2, Sikkim were all out for 291, leaving Meghalaya 260 to win. At stumps on the second day the hosts were 53/3, still needing 207 more runs. To recap, Sikkim were bundled out for 76 yesterday and Meghalaya were also then dismissed for 108 in their first innings.
Sikkim had a much better day with the bat today, with Sahil (51 from 164 balls) contributing a half-century and Denree a mighty ton. The left-handed wicketkeeper batter hit 22 fours and two sixes in his 150 from 198 deliveries. Together he and Sahil put on 105 for the fourth wicket and Denree continued to receive support from the lower order to take the visitors to just shy of 300.
Immediately after reaching his 150, Denree’s partner, No. 11 Abi, was bowled by Gaurav Narleng (2/22 in 9.5 overs) to bring an end to the Sikkim innings. Mewankitbok Kharpuri snatched 3/48 in 19 overs for match figures of 8/65, while Rudra Singh Rathor (2/44 in 17) and Paisal Ali (1/13 in 5.3) also contributed with wickets for Meghalaya.
The solid second innings total really buoyed up the Sikkim players and they were lively, loud and bouncing around the ground as Meghalaya had to endure a tricky couple of hours.
Rudra was caught behind for 4 and the other opening batter, Bishesh Chettry, was bowled by off spinner Aadnan for 21. Aadnan then rattled Dipayan Nandi’s (19) stumps in the last over of the day, with Meghalaya set to resume tomorrow morning on 53/3, with a tall task before them. Aadnan finished the day with figures of 2/7 in 4.3 overs, while Pema, who had Rudra out, bagged 1/15 in 6.
