Shillong, April 27: East Garo Hills (EGH) qualified for the final of the Meghalaya Cricket Association’s Inter District U-19 Boys Cricket Tournament from Zone 2 with a seven-run victory over second-placed Tura District Cricket Association in a highly competitive match in Tura on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in Jowai, Shillong CA (A) defeated SCA (B) by 30 runs to almost guarantee their place in the Zone 1 final.
The top team from the single group Zone 2 goes directly to the final. Zone 1, however, has been split into two groups and there will be a zonal final on April 30 to decide who goes to the final of the main event.
In Tura, EGH won the toss and batted first but the start could not have gone more badly as they lost their opening batter for a duck off the very first ball. Out of a maximum possible 25 overs, EGH were all out for 126 in 22.3, with Number 9 Bilgrak Sangma top-scoring with 27 off 31 balls. Jadilbirth Marak and Chigrik R Marak also contributed 20 runs each in the middle order. Denikcheng Marak had a brilliant day with the ball, claiming 5/19, while Vishal Mishra (2/22) and Bosang R Marak (2/32) bagged a brace each.
TDCA were 79/7 at one point but Mishra’s run-a-ball unbeaten 23 gave the side hope. However, they still required 13 to win off the last over but Chimbara Sangma bowled four dots to make the task nigh impossible and TDCA were left on 119/8 at the end of the innings. Gulgul Sangma took 2/22 but Jadilbirth claimed 3/22 and, along with his 20 runs while batting, was named player-of-the-match.
Over in Jowai, SCA (A) won the toss and batted first, posting 171 all out in 28.4 overs out of 35 available. Mrinal Das smashed the opposition bowlers around the park in his innings of 86 off just 48 deliveries, which included 14 fours and a couple of sixes. Mrityunjay Bharali also hit 47 off 42 as the pair put on 126 for the first wicket. However, there was a fairly rapid disintegration after that, with the A-team losing all 10 wickets for just 45 runs. Basant Chettri (4/26) was the most successful bowler, along with Jerimaiah L Kynshi (2/23) and Angkit Tamang (2/43).
In the chase, SCA (B) lacked a big partnership and their top scorer was Ayush Sharma with 23. Mrinal scalped 4/12 for a superlative all-round performance and he was named player-of-the-match. Raghav Magotra (2/28) and Navin Kumar (2/31) were also among the wickets as the Bs were all out for 141 in 27.1 overs.
SCA (A) are now on top of Group A with 8 points, the same as SCA (B) but with a better net run rate. Ri-Bhoi (on four points) have a mathematical chance of overtaking SCA (A) if they beat East Khasi Hills on Thursday but they would need a huge victory to do so. Meanwhile, South Garo Hills will face North Garo Hills on Thursday in Tura in a match for pride.
