PANAJI
Goa bowlers took nine wickets on the final day to bowl out Nagaland for 255 as they beat the visitors by 83 runs in a close fought match of Ranji Trophy Plate group at Bhausaheb Bandodkar ground at Panjim Gymkhana, Campal on Tuesday.
This was Goa’s third consecutive win in their Ranji Plate Group division having defeated Manipur and Sikkim earlier. With this win, Goa moved on top of the table with 19 points.
Mizoram (+1.286) and Nagaland (+0.423) who are both on 13 points occupy the second and third spot respectively.
On final day, the match started at 1:40 PM, more than four hours behind schedule due to wet outfield as it had rained heavily in Panaji on Monday evening.
Resuming at 145/1, Nagaland added just 110 more runs in 47.1 overs to their overnight score on the final day for the loss of nine wickets.
Debutant Rahul Mehta got the early breakthrough for Goa removing the dangerous looking Dega Nischal and his partner Hem Chetri. Nischal scored 94 off 199 balls which included nine boundaries while Chetri was out for 25. Nischal was an in-form batsman who had hit 154 against Manipur in his previous match.
With these two set overnight batsmen gone, Nagaland wickets started falling on a regular basis.
At tea, Nagaland were struggling at 196/6.
But, a crucial 47 runs partnership for the seventh wicket between wicket keeper Chetan Bist and Jagadeesha Suchith gave Nagaland some hope before Chetan was leg before wicket to Darshan for 41. Chetan hit four boundaries. The scoreboard read 243/7.
Once Chetan was dismissed, Suchith’s wicket fell quickly for 23. Once again, Darshan dismissed him.
Eventually, Nagaland were bowled out for 255 in 104.1 overs.
Goa gave away 14 runs in extras (bye - 8, leg bye - 5, wide - 1)
For Goa, skipper Darshan Misal and Rahul Mehta did most of the damage. Darshan (5/51) picked up a five wicket haul while Rahul (4/48) took four wickets. Shubham Tari (1/23) bagged one wicket. It was Darshan’s eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Darshan (7/97) who claimed seven wickets in the match and also contributed 44 runs with the bat was declared ‘Man of the Match’ for his all-round performance.
Misal expressed satisfaction with this win. He said, ”I am happy with the team’s performance. We wanted to win this match badly against Nagaland. Expect for our batting performance on the first day, wherein our batsmen faltered, overall we did a good job. Our bowlers bowled remarkably well to bowl out Nagaland on the final day.”
“Goa is a tough team in our group and we made them work really hard for this win on their home ground. Nagaland is a small state and we have been playing domestic cricket only since 2018. It will take time for cricket to develop in that state,” said Swapnil Asnodkar, former Goa captain and now batting coach of Nagaland.
Goa will next meet Mizoram on 06 November at Ahmedabad.
Score Box
Goa (First Innings) “ 179 in 58.1 overs (Deepraj Gaonkar 62, Samar Dubhashi 44, Raja Ranjit Swarnkar 4/58, Nagaho Chishi 2/20, Jagadeesha Suchith 2/38)
Nagaland (First Innings) “ 147 in 55 overs (Jagadeesha Suchith 35 not out, Sedezhalie Rupero 26, Nagaho Chishi 23, Arjun Tendulkar 3/27, Rahul Mehta 2/4, Darshan Misal 2/46, Mohit Redkar 2/47)
Goa (Second Innings) “ 306 in 92.1 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 75, Rohan Kadam 59, Arjun Tendulkar 42, Darshan Misal 30, Rongsen Jonathan 4/59, Jagadeesha Suchith 4/81)
Nagaland (Second Innings) “ 255 in 104.1 overs (Dega Nischal 94, Sedezhalie Rupero 48, Chetan Bist 41, Hem Chetri 25, Darshan Misal 5/51, Rahul Mehta 4/48, Shubham Tari 1/23)
