Shillong, Dec 29: The first day of the plate group final between Meghalaya and Nagaland in the U-19 men’s Cooch Behar Trophy was fairly even with the latter posting 252/7 by stumps on Friday evening.

Although hosts Nagaland won the toss at Sovima, it was Meghalaya who had the better start as they sent both openers back to the pavilion without a run being scored. Nagaland were further reduced to 27/3 before a recovery began.

Healthy partnerships were produced through the efforts of Yugandhar (55), Seyievizo Zaputou (77 not out), Samir Ali (48) and the tailenders as Nagaland seized the upper hand as the day progressed, though Meghalaya were still able to chip away with wickets at regular intervals.

Avinash Rai returned the best figures for the visitors with 2/27 in 11 overs, while Angkit Tamang (2/42 in 24) and Shavian Blah (2/46 in 17) also picked up a brace each.

Zaputou will be the key wicket on Saturday morning and Meghalaya will definitely not want their opponents to get to 300.

Meghalaya had lost to Nagaland at home when they met in the round robin stage but since then the state team has won all their subsequent matches. Meghalaya had beaten Arunachal Pradesh before Christmas and Nagaland had taken care of Sikkim in their respective semifinals to qualify for the title match.

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