The
first win of the season in Ranji Trophy came along the way of Sikkim in a match
against Manipur on 29th January at Vikash Cricket Ground,
Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. Sikkim won the match by 232 runs, earning 6 Point(s) for
the win. With this win, Sikkim is standing with 10 Point(s) in the team
standing table with one win and two draws.
The
match was started on 27th January with Manipur winning the toss and
choosing to field first. Sikkim scored 169 runs in the first innings of which
highest run was scored by Lee Yong Lepcha (45), as the Manipur had a good
bowling line-up with Rex Singh taking 4 wickets, Thomas 3 wickets, Bishworjit 2
wickets and Priyojit 1 wicket. It was the vital partnership between Palzor and
Lee Yong of 69 runs that help Sikkim to a decent total. Thou, Sikkim had low
total on the board but the bowlers showed a good game by restricting the
opponent to just 91 runs and maintaining the lead of 78 runs in the first
innings. Ishwar Chaudhary took a brilliant 6 wickets and well supported by
Iqbal Abdullah who took 3 wickets. This was Ishwar’s 4th five
wickets haul of the season and he is standing in 8th position of
most wickets list of Ranji Trophy season 2019-20.
In the
second innings Sikkim made 266 runs, where Iqbal Abdullah scored 71 runs,
Palzor Tamang (50), Ashish Thapa and Lee Yong Lepcha (25 each), Yashpal Singh
(23), Padam Limboo (20), Bibek Diyali (16), Chitiz Tamang (9), Puran Giri (7)
and Ishwar (4). Lee Yong remained not-out on 25 runs. The partnership of 105
runs between the skipper Palzor and Vice-Captain Iqbal was the turning point of
the match where they took a good lead. Sikkim gave the target of 345 runs to
Manipur with two days in hand but once again Sikkim bowlers bowled brilliantly.
This time it was Captain Palzor Tamang who showed a great show by taking 6
wickets and becoming the first player from Sikkim to get a 5 wickets haul in
the most prestigious trophy of India. He took 6 wickets in 13 overs. Ishwar and
Iqbal took 2 wickets each and gave a reason to celebrate by winning the match
with a huge margin. Ishwar Chaudhary was announced The Man of The Match
for his 8 wickets in the match and playing a vital role in the first innings
and giving the team a lead.
