Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sikkim's losing streak continues

The newly-promoted Northeast team has now lost all its six matches in the Plate group.

Fabid Ahmed picked up five wickets for Puducherry against Sikkim. (FILE PHOTO)

Sikkim’s losing streak continued as the side suffered a nine-wicket defeat against Puducherry in a Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture in Nadiad on Tuesday.

Batting first, Sikkim was bundled out for 89, thanks to a five-wicket haul by Fabid Ahmed. With the off-spinner scalping five wickets, conceding just eight runs, the Sikkim batsmen found themselves in middle of nowhere. Though Bijay (17) and captain, Nilesh Lamichaney (16) tried steadying the ship, their efforts were not enough.

Chasing an easy total, Puducherry reached 92-1 in just 15.2 overs, with D. Rohit scoring 38 and AM Narayanan remaining unbeaten on 35. Sikkim has now lost all its six matches in the Plate group.

In the other fixture, KB Pawan’s 112 and Hokaito Zhimomi’s unbeaten 72 helped Nagaland get the better of Arunachal Pradesh by six wickets. Arunachal put up a competitive total of 271-4, with Kshitiz Sharma and Akhilesh Sahani slamming centuries, but Pawan and Zhimomi held their nerves — adding a match-winning 101-run partnership — to chase down the target with 36 balls to spare.

The other fixture saw Taruwar Kohli producing a hat-trick in a career-best six-wicket haul, but that was not enough as Uttarakhand drubbed Mizoram by 152 runs in Vadodara.

Opener Karna Veer Kaushal hammered a 86-ball 118 to set the tone for Uttarakhand’s 321 as its innings folded in the last ball of the innings with Taruwar (6-65) finishing the proceedings with a hat-trick.

Chasing a mammoth total, Mizoram was bundled out for 169 48.4 overs. Sinan Khadir fought a lone battle with his unbeaten 73.

This is Uttarakhand’s fifth win on the trot and it is two points behind leader Bihar, which sits pretty with 22 point.  One team from the Plate group will make it to the quarterfinals.

 

Summarised scores

In Anand:  Arunachal Pradesh 271-4 in 50 overs (Khitiz Sharma 109, Akhilesh Sahani 102 not out)  lost to  Nagaland 272-4 in 44 overs (KB Pawan 112, Hokaito Zhimomi 72 not out; Sandeep Thakur 3-52).

In Nadiad:  Sikkim 89 in 43.2 overs (Fabid Ahmed 5-8, AM Narayanan 3-21)  lost to  Puducherry 92-1 in 15.2 overs (D Rohit 38, Narayanan 35 not out).

In Vadodara:  Uttarakhand 321 in 50 overs (Karna Veer Kaushal 118, Saurabh Rawat 61, Mayank Mishra 41 not out; Taruwar Kohli 6-65) beat  Mizoram 169 in 48.4 overs (Sinan Khadir 73 not out; Vaibhav Bhatt 3-28).