Kathmandu win U-19 selection tournament

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Kathmandu defeated Lalitpur by seven wickets to win the Wai Wai Under-19 Regional Cricket Selection Tournament for Region-III (Kathmandu) here at the TU Stadium today.

In the 30-over-a-side final, Lalitpur made 166-5 following a half century from Ujjwal Thapa. A match-winning unbeaten knock from Robin Joshi then saw Kathmandu cruise to victory in 25.2 overs.

After losing opener Ayush Jung Rana (nine) with just 28 runs on the board, Indra Kamal Manandhar and Sunam Gautam shared 56 runs for the second wicket taking Kathmandu to 84 in 12.4 overs. Sunam made a 28-ball 39 with six boundaries.

Robin then stepped in and was involved in two crucial partnerships that took the match away from Lalitpur with 26 balls to spare. He added 36 runs for the second wicket with Indra and sailed the team home through an unbeaten 47-run partnership with Bijaya Gautam (17 not out).

Player-of-the-final Robin smashed 51 off 38 with five boundaries and two sixes. Indra made a patient 40 from 53 balls with four hits to the fence. Bijaya hit two fours in 23 deliveries. Dipendra Shah, Sanjay Shah and Ujjwal picked up one wicket each for Lalitpur.

Earlier, openers Ujjwal and Sharad Khadka gave Lalitpur a dream start when they added 97 runs in 20.4 overs but other batsmen failed to carry on with the same momentum. Ujjwal hammered 70 runs from 63 deliveries with seven boundaries and Sharad’s 71-ball 33 included one boundary.

No 3 Pawan Shrestha was their next best scorer contributing not out 33 from 27 balls with two fours and a six. Bijay picked up two wickets for Kathmandu, while Sunam and Jagat Chhetri got one each.

Lalitpur’s Sharad was declared the player-of-the-series for his 133 runs and eight wickets in the tournament. Ayush (106) was adjudged the best batsman and Rajesh Shrestha of Nuwakot won the best bowler award for picking up 10 wickets.