Meghalaya suffers dual defeats: U-19 women lose to Manipur, men face crushing defeat from Bengal

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 12, 2023

Meghalaya lost to Manipur by seven wickets in their Women’s U-19 One Day Trophy match in Surat today while the U-19 men’s team lost by 346 runs to Bengal in their first match of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy season in Vijayawada. 

In what was their third match, Manipur won the toss and made Meghalaya bat first in the U-19 women’s fixture. Meghalaya were then dismissed for 97 in 36.4 overs, with Janicka R Marak having produced an excellent 46 from 78 deliveries. Kambesa A Sangma was the other bright spot with the bat, having made 21 from 48 coming in at No. 8. 

Meghalaya experienced a mini collapse that took them from 43/2 to 49/6 before the ship was steadied and they reached 97/6 thanks to a 48-run partnership between Janicka and Kambesa. However, another flurry of wickets then saw the team lose their last four batters for no additional runs. 

In the chase, Meghalaya used nine bowlers in short spells to try and shake up the Manipur batters but the latter reached 98/3 in 27.2 overs. A couple of run outs by Fennysha Nongrum and Jayshree Singh and one dismissal by bowler Natasha Rabha (1/17) were Meghalaya’s only successes. 

Meghalaya will next play Tamil Nadu on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, in Vijayawada, Meghalaya’s first match in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy was a shock to the system as Bengal made 402/3 in 50 overs batting first after winning the toss before scything their way through the Meghalaya batting line-up to dismiss them for 56 in 35.2 overs and win by 346 runs. 

It was a difficult day with bat and ball for Meghalaya. Three of the bowlers did pick up wickets – Kshtij Singhania (1/36), Angkit Tamang (1/52) and Da-u-la-biang Shangpliang (1/59) – while only one batter got into double figures – opener Shubham Rasaily (19). 

Meghalaya will now have to regroup and come back stronger as they will face Uttarakhand on Saturday.