Sikkim in control against Arunachal Pradesh in Ranji Trophy
GANGTOK, : Sikkim seized control of the Ranji Trophy group stage clash against Arunachal Pradesh by establishing a commanding 446-run first innings lead on Saturday.
The day belonged to 20-year-old Ankur Malik, who became the first Sikkim player to achieve the remarkable feat of scoring a century and taking five wickets in the same match.
Ankur hit a brilliant unbeaten 100 off just 101 balls to help Sikkim register a mammoth 544/7 in the first innings. The leg-spinner then spun a web around Arunachal batsmen to claim an impressive 5 for 27.
Resuming from the overnight score of 307-5, Palzor Tamang and Saurav Kumar Prasad put on 129 runs for the sixth wicket.
But any Arunachal hope that a wicket might slow the flow of runs proved unfounded as the dismissal of Palzor for well-played 86 only succeeded in bringing Ankur to the crease, who hit 13 and a six fours in a 101-ball hundred and formed a formidable partnership of 132 runs with Saurav.
Saurav also scored a brilliant 119 of his own as Sikkim recorded first instance of three centuries in a single innings. Sikkim skipper Nilesh Lamichey had scored 103 on Day 1.
On the bowling front, Ankur’s magical spell in the 17th over proved devastating for Arunachal Pradesh. The leg-spinner dismissed Rahul Popli, Siddharth Balodi, and Licha Jhon in a span of four balls. Off-spinner Lee Yong Lepcha joined the onslaught by dismissing Doria three balls later, as Arunachal Pradesh lost six wickets for a mere 34 runs.
With the exception of captain Ayush Awasthi who hit 48, none of Arunachal batsmen looked comfortable against the relentless bowling attack from Sikkim.