Nagaland & Assam enter final

North East T20

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.

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.

Gokul steers Assam to victory

North East T20

Gokul Sarma: In good touch Guwahati/Shillong, Feb 27 : Gokul Sarma’s all-round contribution this morning saw Assam open their campaign in the 1st North East Twenty20 cricket tournament at Polo Ground in Shillong with a 115-run victory over minnows Mizoram. Though an Assam victory was expected, the win gave them some respite after their miserable performance in the East Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy that concluded recently in Calcutta. Assam had lost all their matches in that tournament much to the ire of ACA.  Batting first after losing the toss, Assam made 175 for eight with Sarma scoring 41 off 34 balls followed by Swarupam Purkayastha 39. Gokul was involved in two crucial partnerships of 44 runs for the fourth wicket with Deepak Sharma and 38 runs for the fifth wicket with Purkayastha. Lalfakzuala Renthlen was the most successful of the Mizoram bowlers claiming three wickets. Mizoram, in their chase, were bundled out for 60 in 16.3 overs with H. Zothanchhunga being the only batsman who scored in double figures with 11 to his name. Sarma was the wrecker-in-chief claiming four wickets for four runs. Swarupam captained the side in the absence of Dhiraj Goswami who was named captain by the ACA. Goswami is in Calcutta and is expected to play tomorrow.  In the second match of the day, Nagaland defeated Manipur by 35 runs. Winning the toss, Nagaland elected to bat and scored 126 for seven in 20 overs with Deepak Singha scoring 26 runs off 30 balls. For Manipur, T. Naoba claimed two wickets. In reply, Manipur could manage only 91 in 19 .2 overs with N. Rajesh scoring 22 off 20 balls. Tomorrow, Assam will take on Sikkim.