The first Ranji Trophy match held at the Sikkim Cricket Ground (SCG) near Rangpo resulted in a big win for Sikkim on Friday when the home team trounced Manipur by eight wickets in the Plate Group of the country’s premier cricket tournament.
Requiring a further 138 runs on the last day of the four-day tie with all 10 second innings wickets in hand, Sikkim rode a rapid 74 by Nilesh Lamichaney and a sedate unbeaten 72 by Pankaj Rawat to romp home easily. The home team was chasing a target of 160 runs after bowling out Manipur for 193 in their second innings on Thursday, thanks to the efforts of Palzor Tamang (5/52) and Sumit Singh (4/56).
Sikkim had bundled out the visitors for 186 runs in the first innings and taken a 34-run lead by compiling 220 with Sumit Singh and Arun Chettri scoring 47 and 41, respectively, for the home team despite a record-equaling debut nine-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy by Manipur lad Pheiroijam Singh.
Sikkim’s win and 17-year-old Pheiroijam’s feat highlighted what was the Himalayan state’s first home game on home soil in Ranji Trophy. After gaining full membership of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2018, Sikkim has been participating in all national-level tournaments by playing all their home matches at venues outside the state in the absence of proper cricket ground.
The Sikkim Cricket Ground was granted permission by the BCCI to host Ranji matches last month after overseeing its development as a proper cricket facility over the past three years. The ground will hold two more Ranji games against Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh this season.
An elated Sikkim skipper Ashish Thapa said the team was very happy at registering their first win on home ground and was looking forward to replicating their success in the rest of the season. “We were confident before the game on our plans and processes. We were hoping to execute them properly. After the win, we are more confident of making it to the knockout (read semifinals),” he said.
Apart from the three home games, Sikkim will also lock horns against Meghalaya and Bihar in away matches in the six-team Plate Group. The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals and both the finalists will be promoted to the Elite Group next season.
Unlike in the previous seasons, Sikkim has not registered any outstation players this year even though the BCCI allows fielding a maximum of three from other states in every match. “This time, we played without guest players. This is a good thing for us and moral boosting. We will be able to develop our cricket in this way,” he said, while lauding the Sikkim Cricket Association for its decision.
Incidentally, Sikkim had lost against almost the same Manipur team last season despite fielding three outstation players in the XI.
