Manipur spinner L Kishan Singha scripted history in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022 after bagging a sensational hat-trick against Arunachal Pradesh on Day 1 of the contest. Both sides are in the Plate Group of the prestigious tournament that began on Wednesday.
It all started during the 49th over of Arunachal Pradesh’s first innings when Singha claimed two back-to-back wickets on the last two balls of the over before striking another scalp on the first ball of the 51st over.
On the fifth ball of the 49th over, the left-arm spinner came round the stumps and cleaned up batter Kamsha Yangfo. Singha delivered a quicker ball which angled in and breached the defence of the batter.
Something similar was on display when Singha bowled the sixth delivery of the 49th over. However, this time the red-cherry turned sharply, and before the batter, Akhilesh Sahani, could do anything, the ball had shattered his stumps.
Then in his next over, Singha yet again came round the wicket and bowled a full delivery targeting the pads of Suraj Tayam. The right-handed batter was a little far from his crease when he tried to guide the ball into the mid-wicket region. The wicketkeeper Al Bashid Muhammed saw the opportunity and quickly whipped the bails to stump out Tayam as Singha completed his hat-trick.
Here is the video:
48.5: Kamsha Yangfo ✅
48.6: Akhilesh Sahani ✅
50.1: Suraj Tayam ✅Here's how Manipur's L. Kishan Singha scalped a hat-trick against Arunachal Pradesh. 👌 👌 #RanjiTrophy | #MANvARP | @Paytm
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/T6uhRgYszI pic.twitter.com/uywODqSCeq
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 17, 2022
Singha overall picked up four wickets in 11 overs while conceding only 11 runs, including as many as nine maidens. Apart from the left-arm spinner, Bishworjit Konthoujam (2/21) and Rex Singh (2/50) also bagged a couple of scalps as Manipur bundled out Arunachal Pradesh for 119 runs only in 57 overs. Arunachal’s captain Neelam Obi was the only major highlight for his side. He scored a remarkable 61 off 152 balls with the help of 10 boundaries, including a six.
In response, Manipur have scored 192/4 in 68 overs till lunch on Day 2, leading Arunachal by 73 runs. So far, Bashid Muhammed, with 79, has been the top scorer for his side.
