Palzor Tamang becomes first Sikkimese to take five-wicket haul in first-class cricket

SAMIR NUGO
GANGTOK: Palzor Tamang on Wednesday became the first bowler from Sikkim to register a five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. He achieved the feat on the third day of a Ranji Trophy match between Sikkim and Manipur at Bhubaneswar.
Tamang finished with bowling figures of 6/65. This is for the first time that any bowler of Sikkimese origin has taken five wickets in first-class cricket. The right-arm medium pacer also became the only second bowler from Sikkim to take five-wicket haul across all formats after Padam Limboo, who took 6/20 in Vijay Hazare Trophy, against Mizoram in October 2019.
Tamang, en route to his maiden fifer, dismissed five of the top-6 batsmen. Three of them were trapped LBW.
“I am happy and honoured to claim a five-wicket haul and become the first player from Sikkim to do so in first-class cricket,” said Tamang after achieving a historic milestone.
The 26-year-old further added, “Cricket is a team game and it would not have been possible for me to achieve this without the support of all my teammates, coach, trainer and support staff.”
Tamang has so far played 10 Ranji matches across two seasons and has taken 15 wickets at an average of 35.
January 29 will be a memorable day for the Syari boy. His maiden fifer resulted in Sikkim’s first win of the season and first under his captaincy. The Syari lad is in charge senior men’s team for 2019-20 Ranji season. 
The win against Manipur on Wednesday was the first win of the season for Sikkim.
In the first innings, Sikkim scored 169 runs and in response, Manipur were bowled out for 91 runs.
In the second innings, Sikkim came up with a spirited performance, as they registered 266 runs on the board. In pursuit of 345 runs, Manipur’s innings folded for 112 runs as medium pacer Tamang scalped six wickets enabling Sikkim to register a victory on day-three itself.
Sikkim will next take on Meghalaya in the 8th round match slated to begin from February 4.
Meanwhile, none for Sikkim has scored a first-class century yet. Nilesh Lamichaney’s knock of 70 runs against Uttarakhand in 2018 still stands as the highest score by Sikkimese. Lamichaney is also the first and only centurion from Sikkim in senior men’s cricket.