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| Amit Sinha |
Guwahati/Shillong, Feb 28 : Assam will take on Nagaland in the final of the 1st North East Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Polo Ground in Shillong tomorrow.
In the semi-final matches at the same venue today, Assam drubbed Sikkim by six wickets and Nagaland scrapped past hosts Meghalaya by eight runs to book their final berths.
Gokul Sharma, who had taken four wickets against Mizoram yesterday, gave another sterling performance along with Swarupam Purkaystha, picking up three wickets each to help Assam to restrict Sikkim to 101 for eight after the latter elected to bat after winning the toss.
Devender Kumar was the only notable contributor with the bat for Sikkim, playing a steady hand of 30 off 51 balls.
Assam had no problem in achieving the Sikkim score with Amit Sinha leading the way with 42 off 33 balls. Pritam Debnath made 19 off 10 balls. Kulbeer Rawat and Paijor Tamang took two wickets each for Sikkim.
The only change in the Assam playing eleven came in the form of Dhiraj Goswami, who replaced Ranjit Mali, said Assam coach Subhrajit Saikia.
“Dhiraj Goswami also captained the side,” Saikia said, hoping that the pitches would assist spinners more than the medium pacers who were finding it difficult to control the ball.
“Dhiraj Goswami also captained the side,” Saikia said, hoping that the pitches would assist spinners more than the medium pacers who were finding it difficult to control the ball.
Purkayastha had captained the side in the first match. Assam will be fielding an unchanged side in the final. “We will retain the winning combination,” Saikia added.
If the Assam-Sikkim encounter in the morning was a one-sided affair, the second match between Nagaland and Meghalaya was anything but.
Batting first after winning the toss, Nagaland posted a competitive 133 for eight in 20 overs with Deepak Sinha scoring 30 off 39 balls and Imliwati 24 off 17 balls.
Babloo Passah took two wickets for Meghalaya.
In reply, hosts Meghalaya fell short of the winning total by eight runs with the seasoned Mark Ingty scoring 29 off 30 balls and Jason Lamare contributing 22 off 21 balls.
Pinku Deb took two wickets for Nagaland.
