Shivsagar 215/10 (Mrinmoy 33, Yasir 33, Raj 3/44) & 110/10 (Nasir 29, Biki 20, Sanjib 6/62) drew with Charaideo 121/10 (Manas 22, Mujibur 17, Sagar 17, Arpan 10/48) & 93/3 (Nipon 39, Mujibur 27, Amit 1/13)
A 19 year old Rex Singh took social media by storm last year when he registered the figures of 10/11 in a Cooch Behar U-19 game. The video did rounds on social media for quite a long period of time. The left arm pacer from Manipur deserved the fame because a ten wicket haul in an inning is nothing less than a miracle at any level of the game.
Another 25 year old left arm bowler was probably watching the video somewhere in Singh’s neighboring state, Assam. Arpan Dutta probably never thought that he will repeat the feat, that too within a year. The left Arm spinner from Charaideo almost snatched the game away from Sivasagar with his magical figures of 19-4-48-10.
The Annual Nuruddin Ahmed Senior Inter District Cricket tournament works as a feeder to Assam Ranji team. Hundreds of top players from the state of Assam are participating in the league. The game between Sivsagar and Charaideo had nothing special in it on day one except some seasonal showers and ruined starts from Sivasagar batsmen. Nipon removed Bharat after steady start. Bhargav departed just when he looked like gaining some touch. With two wickets down for 67, Sivasagar needed a partnership to lay a foundation.
Danish (32) and Yasir (33) were moving ahead fluently. Sivasagar must have felt like they have laid the foundation for a massive total but Sanjib ensured the happiness was just momentary when he removed Danish. Nasir returned back without troubling the scorers. Mrinoy Dutta, took the positive approach, opting to hit out of trouble. His 33 runs came of just 15 balls but his inning came to an unfortunate end when he knocked his own stumps down. Some lower order contribution ensured a respectable first inning total for the Sivasagar.
Everything was normal in the second inning. But that’s only until 13th over of the inning. Charaideo got an identical start to Sivasagar. The openers dodged the new ball burst from Amit and Abhinash. When the thirteenth over began, not even Arpan thought that he will remember this day as a pleasant dream. The first three deliveries were ordinary left arm spin, aimed at the stumps. The fourth one spun and started a chain reaction that literally destroyed Charaideo. Mujibur Ali departed handing over the first of 10 wickets to Arpan. He removed Manash in his next over to leave Charaideo 45 for 2. Rituraj and Sagar tried to rescue the inning but Arpan came back in 26th over and removed Rituraj. The Middle and lower order had no answer to Arpan’s guile and they were trapped in his web. He finished with a figure that is unmatched in the 65 year old history of the tournament.
Despite losing a lot of time to rain, Charaideo still had a lot of work to secure a draw after conceding an 84 run lead in the first inning. Their only chance of preventing the opposition from securing the maximum points from the game was to prevent them from scoring anything substantial in the second inning, and guess what? THEY DID IT.
After chipping away with three middle order wickets in the first inning, Sanjib Dutta wrecked havoc in the second inning as he registered the figures of 6/62. Along with Raj Aggrawal, he ensured that the target remains within two hundred. Apart from Nasir, none of the Sivasagar batsmen could show the signs of a fight as they were rolled out for 110.
Charaideo were chasing 185 in the fourth inning but the game was almost over in the third inning itself. When the Charaideo openers came in, they had just 43 minutes of play left. Only nine overs were possible in the fourth inning but they were action packed 9 overs. The openers added 33 in just 3.3 overs. The slugging continued even after Mujibur Ali perished for a 14 ball 27. Nipon Deka kept swinging at almost everything and finished with 39 of 18 balls. He smoked five balls almost into the orbits but they were left with too much to get in a pretty less amount of time. The umpires removed bails with Charaideo 3 for 93. Despite showing a lot of fight in the second half of the game, they conceded first inning points to Sivasagar. Arpan Dutta was elected as player of the match for his historical figures of 10 for 48 in the first inning.