The Elite Group A match between Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh (MP) saw some unusual show of cricket in the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament. Meghalaya has named an embarrassing record to their name as the entire team was bundled out for a paltry 61 on Thursday (February 24). Punit Bisht-led Meghalaya never looked settled from the word go as the Madhya Pradesh's bowlers kept the opponent in check. The bowler who wreaked havoc for Madhya Pradesh was Gaurav Yadav as he took Meghalaya's batters to cleaners and sent half of the team to pavilions single-handedly to return with a splendid figure of 5/11.
Five batters dismissed for duck
Batting first, Meghalaya openers Wallam Kynshi and Kishan Lyngdoh took the crease with an intent to give their side a good start but Madhya Pradesh bowlers were in no mood to let the opponent batters settle and dismissed them cheaply. While Wallam was removed for a measly 2 by Gaurav Yadav, Ishwar Pandey got Ishan run out for mere 11 when the scoreboard read 13/2. Gaurav continued the onslaught and kept Meghalaya batters searching for runs. His next prey was Chirag Khurana who was sent to the hut for a duck as the batter wasted seven balls to score blank. The next three batters who came in Gaurav's radar were Punit Bisht and Larry Sangma who scored a naught each while Kilco Marak who got dismissed for 8. Wanlambok Nongkhlaw remained the top scorer with 19 off 40 as Akash Choudhary and Nafees Siddique were the other batters to be dismissed for duck.
Kumar Kartikeya played the second fiddle among bowlers as he scalped two wickets while conceding six runs.
Madhya Pradesh off to a good start
In reply, Madhya Pradesh batters are 141/2 at the close of Day 1, to take the upperhand in the match. Rameez Khan scored 38 off 74 but was soon removed by Akash Chowdhary. The other opener Ajay Rohera also contributed with 100-ball 26. Shubham Sharma is still at the crease with 57 off 100 with his apprentice Rajat Patidar who scored 16 off 39.
For Meghalaya, Akash and Aryan Bora has scalped one wicket each.
