Ranji Trophy | Plate Group - Puducherry, Meghalaya, Manipur pick up wins as Sikkim keep up their resilience on day 3

Vikas Ranjan’s knock goes in vain as Puducherry seals the deal

Yashpal Singh and Iqbal Abdulla hold the fort for Sikkim

It was a day of complete dominance of the Sikkim batters who went on to bat for 74 over to overturn their 246 runs deficit into a 31 run lead. Starting off with only 5 wickets in hand, Sikkim had a shaky start but recovered well with a 71 run stand between first innings half centurion Lee Yong Lepcha (29) and Yashpal Singh (84). After losing Lepcha, Yashpal and Iqbal Abdulla(99*) then stitched up a determined 151 run stand to wear out the Goa attack which was rendered helpless against the exquisite strokeplay of the north Indian batters. Abdulla now stand unbeaten, 1 run away from his maiden ton, with skipper Plazor Tamang (32*) looking to put up a fighting total for Goa to chase with only two wickets in hand.

Manipur cruise to victory on Day 3 courtesy Rex Singh’s 10 wicket haul

The day 3 of the encounter between two northeastern states in Kolkata saw only 8.5 overs bowled as Manipur cruised to victory. Having dismissed Mizoram for 290 in their second innings, Manipur started off the third day with only 33 runs to get and with 7 wickets in hand as they did so in under 9 overs losing only one wicket. Rex Singh of Manipur bagged the man of the match award for his 10 wickets in the match, including the 8 wickets which bundled out Mizoram for just 65 in their first innings.

Sanjay Yadav’s four wickets flatten Nagaland

Having ended day 2 at 142, Meghalaya went into day 2 trying to defend their 291 runs and get 10 Nagaland wickets to seal the deal. And they ended up doing the exactly the same sealing the match by 110 runs courtesy a four-wicket haul from Sanjay Yadav. Nagaland started off rock-solid as the openers Aosashi Longchar (44) and Yogesh Takawale (21) held their ground for first 17 runs before the. Against batting lineup went down like a landslide. Wickets kept on falling in regular intervals before their entire team was bundled off within 181 runs to hand Meghalaya a 110 run win. Puneet Bisht of Meghalaya was chosen as the man of the match for his 125 in the first innings.