Vijay Hazare Trophy Plate Jotin, Karnajit shine as Manipur post four-wicket win over Arunachal Pradesh

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 29 : Manipur rode on Pheiroijam Jotin and Yumnam Karnajit to beat Arunachal Pradesh by 4 wickets in the third Plate Group match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Usha Martin Ground, Ranchi.
It was the second win for Manipur after having beaten Nagaland by 1 wicket in the thrilling league opener.
Electing to field first, Manipur managed to bundle out Arunachal Pradesh for 246 runs in 29.5 overs riding on Pheiroijam Jotin and Kishan Singha before Yumnam Karnajit anchored with an unbeaten ton to seal the victory with 4 wickets and 21 balls left to spare.
Doria led the scoring for Arunachal Pradesh with a slow 132-ball 83 and he was followed by Techi Neri who added 62 off 60 balls (6 fours and 1 six) and Nabam Josh who added 32 off 33 balls (2 fours and 1 six).
Notably, Kishan Singh spun web around the first three batters to break key partnerships including the 62-run first wicket stand between Doria and Vidush (21 off 47) and the 84-run third wicket stand between Techi Neri and Doria.
Jotin, meanwhile, found his breakthrough in dismissing Nabam Josh for the 4th wicket in the third delivery of the 46th over before removing Doria two deliveries later.
Tempol then fell to Bishworjit on run out for the 6th wicket as the scoreboard read 224 in the 47th over before Jotin further pile pressure by dismissing Kamsha Yangfo in the 48th over and completed his three wicket haul.
Bishworjit the bowled out Mibom for the 8th wicket on a duck before Jotin got rid of T Sania on 19 and TNR Mohit on 2 in the 3rd and 5th deliveries of the death over and returned with the best bowling figures of 5/55 in his spell of 9.5 overs.
In reply, Manipur lost Ulenyai early in the first over to Mibom Mosu but Y Karnajit and M Langlonyamba set the tone of a successful chase by gathering 103 runs off 120 balls for the second wicket.
After Langlonyamba’s dismissal (38 off 56 balls; 2 fours) by Techi Neri, Manipur further slipped to 109/3 with Doria bowling out Ng Johnson cheaply.
Karnajit then found another partner in Ng Jameson as they forged a slow but significant 66-run partnership off 98 deliveries until Jameson was bowled out by Mibom Mosu on 31 ( off 53 balls; 1 four).
Karnajit held on to gather another 35-run partnership with K Priyojit (25 off 13) for the fifth wicket and completed his maiden List-A tournament century as he shared another crucial 33-run partnership with Pheiroijam Jotin (23 off 15; 2 fours and 1 six) for the 6th wicket.
Karnajit was unbeaten on 116 off 134 balls (5 fours) with Bidash 6 not out off 3 as Manipur cruised to the winning 250 in the third delivery of the 47th over.
Mibom Mosu (2/36) was the pick of the Arunachal Pradesh bowlers as Doria (2/51), Techi Neri (1/62) and Tempol (1/23) shared another four wickets.
Karnajit who produced an all important century knock to seal Manipur’s victory was adjudged player of the match.
Manipur will play Mizoram in the next match on December 31.
Brief Scores
Arunachal Pradesh 246 all out in 49.5 overs (Doria 83, Techi Neri 62, Nabam Josh 32; Jotin 5/55, Kishan Singha 3/40)
Manipur 250/6 in 46.3 overs (Karnajit 116*, Langlonyamba 38, Jameson 31, Priyojit 25, Jotin 23; Mibom Mosu 2/36, Doria 2/51)