Shillong, Nov 21: Kevin Christopher hit a half-century for Meghalaya but they still lost by eight wickets to Himachal Pradesh in the U-25 Men State A Trophy in Mohali on Monday.

Meghalaya lost the toss, were made to bat first and suffered an appalling start when their top three batters were dismissed without a run on the board.

However, Josiah Momin (36) and Christopher (52) came together and helped the side regroup as they made 93 for the fourth wicket. When they got out, though, there was less resistance in those that followed, except for Jaskirat Singh and PM Santhosh, who both made 17 runs each, the latter not out at the end.

The last six wickets fell for 31 as Meghalaya were all out for 152 in 49.2 overs.

Both of Himachal Pradesh’s openers made half-centuries of their own before they were dismissed in the 50s by Manish Sharma (2/51). Although they would have been disappointed at getting out, their dismissals were not an inconvenience to Himachal, who easily chased down the target in 23.4 overs.

Meghalaya will have to build on the positives in their opening two defeats as they prepare to take on Railways on Wednesday.