This was in response to Meghalaya’s 295 all-out in their first outing, which gave the hosts a huge lead of 221. Declining to impose the follow-on, Meghalaya had a bat again but were 78/6 when bad light stopped play.
Overcast conditions helped the fast bowling pair of PM Santhosh and Abhishek Kumar, who bowled in tandem as Nagaland were skittled in just 18.4 overs.
Santhosh nabbed 5/18 on his return to the team and Abhishek netted 5/52, with the pacers putting the ball in the right areas and letting swing, movement off the pitch or the batters’ own mistakes to do the rest.
Tohuka (17) and Afzal (32) were going well for Nagaland until the former presented the easiest of catches for Badonnam Mylliemngap at mid-on. After that, the remaining wickets fell in a heap on either side of lunch.
With so much time left in the match and with an eye on the semifinal, which Meghalaya has already qualified for, captain Kevin Christopher thought it best his boys get some extra batting practice.
