ANAND:
A brilliant 205 (not out) by Punit Bisht put Meghalaya on top in the first innings of the plate group match against Arunachal Pradesh at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Anand, Gujarat on January 3.
Bisht along with Kishan Lyndoh (128) starred for Meghalaya as the state put a mammoth 424/3 on board, tilting the match in Meghalaya favour as Arunachal Pradesh bowlers looked hopeless in front of them, being hit all around right from the very start.
Arunachal Pradesh, who won the toss and elected to field, were in for a ride against the confident Meghalaya side who had won all of their three previous matches with ease.
Opening for Meghalaya, R R Biswa and Kishan Lyngdoh gave 81 runs partnership before Lyngdoh was picked by Rakesh Kumar. Lyngdoh continued to score at a consistent rate, as Swarajeet Das was picked behind the wicket by Rakesh Kumar with 119 on board.
The real show started when Bisht came in at number 4 to do the damage for Arunachal Pradesh. Bisht kept striking till the end the day for Meghalaya at a strike rate of 106.22, while the Arunachalee bowlers kept on struggling to stop the debacle as Meghalaya ended the day with 424 on board.
For Arunachal, Niia was the most expensive bowler conceding 134 runs in 18 overs. Chandan Kumar Singh, Siddharth Balodi, Rakesh Kumar, Doria too proved expensive in the bowling department till the day ended at stumps.