Dimapur: Milind Kumar dished out an all-round show to guide Sikkim to 120 for 5 against Nagaland at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group match here Monday.
Opting to field, Sikkim first bowled out Nagaland for 179 in 52.5 overs with outstation players Ishwar Choudhary (4/65), Bipul Sharma (3/46) and Milind (2/21) taking nine wickets among them.
Nagaland skipper Rongsen Johanthan was their top-scorer and rescued the team after Chaudhary removed the top three for 30 runs inside seven overs.
In reply, Sikkim had a jittery start with 9 for 2 in the fifth over. But former Delhi batsman Milind, who had recently smashed a career-best 261 against Manipur in Kolkata, continued his fine run, blasting an unbeaten 78 from 66 balls (10×4, 2×6).
Sikkim ended day one at 120/5, trailing Mizoram by 59 runs. In Dehradun, Uttarakhand pacer Deepak Dhapola was on a song with a 7 for 50 as Manipur folded for 137 in 42 overs.
Dhapola had a match haul of nine wickets on debut as he continued to impress giving Manipur batsmen no chance after skipper Rajat Bhatia opted to bowl at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
In reply, opener Karanveer Kaushal made 45 off 55 to help Uttarakhand finish day one at 123/5, needing 14 runs for a first innings lead.
Brief Scores:
In Dimapur: Nagaland 179 in 52.5 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 86; Ishwar Choudhary 4/65) vs Sikkim 120/5 in 35 overs (Milind Kumar 78 batting; Pawan Suyal 5/34).
In Dehradun: Manipur 137 in 42 overs (Yashpal Singh 38; Deepak Dhapola 7/50) vs Uttarakhand 123/5 in 46 overs (Karanveer Kaushal 45; Bishworjit Konthoujam 3/41).
In Jorhat: Arunachal Pradesh 220 in 66.2 overs (Akhilesh Sahani 65, Kshitiz Sharma 49; Taruwar Kohli 3/62) vs Mizoram 92/3 in 22.4 overs (Akhil Rajput 57).
In Puducherry: Puducherry 269/7 (Paras Dogra 101; Rohit Damodaran 61 batting; Gurinder Singh 2/58) vs Meghalaya.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)