the goan I network
panaji
Goa crashed to their second defeat in their third match of Vijay Hazare Trophy but not before giving stiff resistance to Himachal Pradesh while defending a modest total of 148 in their four-wicket loss at Alur on Sunday.
After electing to bat, Goa struggled to forge partnerships. Six of Himachal’s bowlers bagged wickets with Ayush Jamwal snaring
a four-for.
As many as six of Goa’s batsmen were dismissed for single digit scores as they folded up for 148. Opener Amogh Desai, who lost opening partner Sumiran Amonkar (1) in the second over of the match, made a 30-ball 22 before he was trapped lbw by Rishi Dhawan. Snehal Kauthankar (17) and Amit Verma (29) also got starts but were unable to stay at the wicket for long.
Darshan Misal then dropped the anchor as wickets fell around him to push Goa’s total towards 150. Misal scored a patient 72-ball 30 to give Goa’s total some respectability. They were eventually bowled out for 148 in 45 overs. Jamwal (4/25) was the most impressive bowler
for Himachal.
Himachal’s opening pair lost little sweat while heading for the target. However, once skipper Prashant Chopra was dismissed, the middle order struggled, losing six wickets for 55 runs. Opener Priyanshu Khanduri, however, hung around and saw his team over the line.
Khanduri and Chopra gave Himachal a fine start as the two put on 61 runs for the opening wicket before Amulya Pandrekar provided the breakthrough. He then picked up two more but Khanduri and Dagar saw the side through in the 33rd over.
Speaking on the defeat at the end of the match, Goa coach Prakash Mayenkar said that his boys had a poor outing. “The batting did not click. We were at least 40-50 runs short. The batsmen got out to bad shots at wrong time. The wicket was slow as well,” Mayenkar said.
While acknowledging that the batsmen should have played out the overs, the coach stated that slow left-arm orthodox bowler Amulya Pandrekar was the only bright spot with the ball. He came hard on young left-arm speedster Lakshay Garg, who he said underperformed on Sunday.
Goa have only one win from three matches as they started off with a 5-wicket defeat against Maharashtra on Wednesday, but recovered to post a convincing 42-run win against Railways. The loss to Himachal Pradesh is a big blow for the side ahead of Monday’s match against
hosts Karnataka.
