0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 - Nagaland women all out for two runs vs Kerala in U-19 match!

Nine Nagaland players were out for a duck and of the two runs scored against Kerala in the BCCI U-19 Women’s League and Knockout Tournament match, one was for a wide ball!

Nagaland, a state taking baby steps in cricket, were all out for just two runs in their BCCI U-19 women’s League and Knockout Tournament cricket match against Kerala in Guntur on Friday. Kerala took just one ball to wrap up the issue.

Opener Menka got Nagaland off the mark but what followed were nine ducks in their BCCI U-19 Women’s League and Knockout Tournament match in Guntur. (BCCI.TV (screen grab))

As many as nine Nagaland players were out for a duck. Of the two runs that were scored, one was for a wide ball.

Opener Menka got Nagaland off the mark but what followed were nine ducks! Nagaland’s two runs came in 17 overs or 102 balls with Minnu Mani picking up four wickets, including three to return figures of 4-4-0-4.

Nagaland coach Hokaito Zhimomi, however, blamed lack of preparations as one of the factors behind the horrid performance.

“The Nagaland Cricket Association was struggling to put a team together because we didn’t have any academy for girls,” Zhimomi, who also runs the only coaching academy for girls in the state, was quoted as saying by ESPNCrininfo.

The Full scorecard (BCCI.TV (screen grab))

“We had to put out advertisements in the local newspapers, which is when the girls started coming to the academy. All of the nine students enrolled in the academy are part of this squad.”

This is the first time that Nagaland, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim, are taking part in the tournament. “We had to start from scratch because all the girls are completely raw. In their first training session none of the girls knew what skills they specialize in. Yes, there have are a lot of loopholes to plug, but one needs to understand these girls have only started playing cricket,” Zhimomi lamented.

Earlier this month, an astounding 136 wide balls were bowled in a match of the same tournament between Nagaland and Manipur in Dhanbad, which Nagaland had won by 117 runs.