BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
With the game delicately poised, in helpful bowling conditions, Goa head coach Prakash Mayenkar ascertained that the 15 overs on the penultimate day of their Elite Group C engagement against Assam on Monday will decide which team will dictate the course of the match.
On Sunday, Goa were bowled out for 193 to be handed a useful 18-run first innings lead. In their second dig, Assam were placed at 119/4, with a 101-run lead and looking at a few small partnerships to keep the contest alive until the last ball is bowled.
Speaking to The Goan at the end of day’s play, Mayenkar stated that his team should have coped much better with the bat though at the same time he accepted that the opposition attack was quite good. “We should have done much better with the bat, but it has to be acknowledged that Assam’s bowling attack is good,” the Goa gaffer said.
Mayenkar came in for special praise for Snehal Kauthankar who shored up the middle order with determination and élan. “Snehal should be credited for the fantastic innings he played under tough conditions. It is one of the better innings that I have seen him play. Lakshay Garg and Amulya Pandrekar should also be lauded for providing the small partnerships in the end with Kauthankar that makes a lot of difference to the team,” he added.
Snehal who struck a gritty 69 from 116 balls with eight boundaries formed important late-order associations with Lakshay Garg (19) Amulya Pandrekar (11) that realised 30 and 27 runs for the 7th and 8th wickets respectively that helped Goa go past Assam’s first innings score of 175 and significantly hand the visitors three points on virtue of their first innings lead. Entering Monday that is likely to decide the outcome of the match, Mayenkar was quite wary on the situation at hand. “We have to get them (Assam) out within another 30 runs to their current score to be on safer ground. We have to get them out within the first 15 overs. Any further runs they may score, the pressure will build on us,” Mayenkar conceded.
