Shillong, Feb 2: Bipin Kumar Ray has taken an impressive eight wickets so far for Meghalaya in their U-23 men’s Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Vidarbha in Nagpur, which began yesterday.
Fielding first after winning the toss, Meghalaya dismissed Vidarbha for exactly 200 in their first innings, with Bipin taking 6/70 in 20.1 overs. None of the home team batters were able to pass 39.
Manish Sharma, meanwhile, bagged 3/57 in 19 overs and Abhishek Kumar 1/23 in 8. Conditions favoured spin, with Bipin and Manish accounting for 39.1 overs together out of Vidarbha’s total of 56.1.
Meghalaya did not have a good start to their first innings, losing 3/21, but captain Kevin Christopher (18) and Swastic Chettri put on 55 for the fourth wicket. However, Kevin’s dismissal was followed in quick succession by others and Meghalaya were 82/7 before Manish and Swastic added a further 57 in an eighth wicket stand.
The visitors were dismissed for 157 after Swastic ran out of partners. He was unbeaten at the end after making a fine 76 from 132 deliveries, which included nine fours and one six.
At the close of the second day today, Vidarbha were 230/5, giving them a lead of 273 with plenty of time still left in the match. Bipin claimed 2/63 in 19 but it was the part-time bowling of Kevin’s that netted 2/27 in 8 overs. Manish (1/55 in 20) claimed the other wicket.
