Aman spins Bihar to bonus point win against Meghalaya

Left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman returned an astonishing match haul of 14 wickets to help Bihar crush hosts Meghalaya by an innings and 71 runs in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group encounter here on Saturday.

The 32-year-old had figures of 6/17 in the second innings for a match haul of 14/68, as Bihar skittled out the home outfit for 46 on way to a bonus-point victory with two days to spare.

The Services veteran now has 39 wickets to his kitty from eight innings at a jaw-dropping average of 4.79 to be second in the leading wicket takers' tally this season behind Uttarakhand pacer Deepak Dhapola (42 wickets).

This was Bihar's third win, and all of them have come with bonus points. They now have 21 points from five matches.

Aman also chipped in with the bat with an unbeaten 35 (4x4, 1x6) on a day Bihar folded for 242 after resuming the day on 80/2.

Bihar lost wickets at regular intervals but the 117-run first innings lead proved to be enough.

All hell broke loose in Meghalaya's second innings as Aman and leg-spinner Quadri (4/24) running through the opponent's batting lineup.

Only one batsman, Gurinder Singh (10), could manage a double digit score as Meghalaya's innings ended in 26.5 overs.

Paras Dogra slammed 139 from 143 balls (19x4, 1x6) while Fabid Ahmed proved handy with the bat as well scoring 88 as Puducherry secured a massive 334 runs win over Arunchal Pradesh with two days to spare.

The duo's stellar batting helped Puducherry notch 351 in their second innings to hand Arunachal Pradesh a stiff 406 run target.

In reply, Arunachal Pradesh were bundled out for 71 with former India pacer Pankan Singh (5/25) and Damodaren Rohit (4/7) sharing nine wickets between them.

In Jorhat, Ishwar Chaudhury returned with brilliant figures of 5/57, his sixth five-wicket haul, as Sikkim bowled out Mizoram for 161 to remain in sight for a third victory.

Sikkim were 75/3 in their second essay with an overall lead of 246 going into the third day.

Earlier, Milind Kumar's 139 along with Bipul Sharma's 50 helped Sikkim notch up 332 in their first innings.

In reply, Mizroam batting centred around Taruwar Kohli who scored a valiant 74 from 150 balls before being dismissed by Bipul Sharma (2/36).

Chaudhary was the wrecker-in-chief, while Milind Kumar also played a part in bowling returning with 2/35.

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