Kolkata: Assam head coach Kiran Powar was pleased to see his side return to winning ways with their first outright Ranji Trophy victory in more than two seasons, but admitted the missed bonus point against Tripura left a sour note despite the commanding result at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.Assam sealed the Group B fixture inside three days on Tuesday, collecting six points. Their previous outright win had also come at the same venue, against Bihar in Feb 2024.“We had prepared well from May and I kept telling the boys to have faith in themselves because they had worked hard. The boys showed that,” Powar said. “Overall, I’m happy because the team gave their heart out,” the Mumbaikar told TOI from Guwahati.The coach, however, felt Assam failed to maximise a position of dominance. He pointed out opener Rishav Das, who was out on 37 after getting set in the first innings, lost his wicket in the chase with Assam only six runs away from the target of 36.“I was very disappointed with Rishav,” Powar said. “When you need only a few runs for an additional bonus point, that’s not the time to throw your wicket away. This one point can matter a lot when the standings are decided. The difference between six points and seven points can be huge.”Powar was also unhappy with Assam’s first-innings batting effort of 334.“I was disappointed that we could only score 334 because some of the batters gave their wickets away very casually,” he said. Opener Nibir Deka (34), captain Denish Das (17), Sibsankar Roy (54), wicketkeeper-batter Sumit Ghadigainkar (49) and Swarupam Purkayastha (69) — all got starts but could not convert those to big knocks.If the batting left him wanting more, the bowling unit delivered. Assam skittled Tripura for just 62 in the visitors’ first innings as pace and spin combined effectively.“Our fast bowlers got us back into the game. The line and length they maintained was exactly what we had been working on in practice. I was very satisfied with that effort,” Powar said.Pacers Mukhtar Hussain and Hridip Deka shared five and three wickets between them in first and second innings, respectively.Tripura, however, showed greater resistance in the follow-on. Reduced to 54/5, they fought back through skipper Manisankar Murasingh’s counter-attacking 161 off 160 balls and Sentu Sarkar’s 59 to post 307 and force Assam to bat again.“We got a bit complacent after getting five wickets down cheaply. We thought it would happen quickly from there,” Powar admitted. “But Murasingh batted very smartly. We had plans for him, but at times we couldn’t execute them and also dropped him twice on 0 and 26.”Powar reserved special praise for Player of the Match, 19-year-old off-spinner Mohit Thakur, whose match figures of 8 wickets, including 3/6 and 5/101, helped shape the victory.“Taking eight wickets in a match is an excellent achievement. He’s a young boy, a hard worker and always eager to learn,” Powar said. “He’s still a work in progress.”Assam will now rest for another day before travelling to Rajkot on Friday for their third game against Saurashtra.“The boys need recovery first,” Powar said. “We’ll have two days of practice there before the next match. We’ll take the positives from this game and work on the shortcomings.”Brief scores: Assam 334 & 36/1 in 13.2 overs. Tripura 62 & 307 (M Murasingh 161, S Sarkar 59; M Thakur 5/101). Assam won by 9 wickets.Points: Assam 6, Tripura 0.
