Thames‚ Universal advance to semis

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

BHAKTAPUR: Hosts Thames International College and Universal College entered the semi-finals of the Thames Inter-College Twenty20 Cricket Tournament here at the Sainik Awasiya Mahavidhyalaya grounds today.

Thames thrashed Kathmandu Model College (KMC) by six wickets. Put into bat first, KMC were bundled out for 84 in 19 overs before Thames surpassed the total in 15.1 overs for the loss of four wickets.

Saurav Nepal (17) and Kshitiz Puri (14) were the only KMC batsmen to score in double figures. Man-of-the-match Eraj Shrestha was pick of the Thames bowlers with and economical figures of 4-9 from four overs, while Bibhav Raj Joshi claimed two wickets. Khageshwor Bhatta and Ashish Man Singh also took one wicket each.

In reply, Sagar Malla scored 27 and Bibhav made 22 runs to steer the hosts into the last four. Pratik Shrestha also contributed 11 runs for Thames. Saurav, Dinesh Raj Pant and Nilesh Shrestha grabbed one wicket each for KMC.

In another quarter-final match, Universal defeated Kantipur College of Management and Information Technology (KCMIT) by three wickets. Batting first, KCMIT could only muster 111 in 18.4 overs riding on 22 runs from Suprim Upadhyay and 20 from Saroj Karki. Bikram Tiwari chipped in 18 and Manoj Rawal added 10 runs for KCMIT. Siddhartha Jung Karki, Prashant Raut and Kiran Nepal picked up two wickets apiece for Universal.

In reply, Nabin Shrestha scored 26 and man-of-the-match Kiran hit 23 runs as Universal made 114-7 in 19 overs. Pratik Karmacharya also scored 20 runs for Universal. Ravi Shrestha picked up three wickets and Pratic GC grabbed two for KCMIT.

Thames will take on DAV College, while Kathford are up against Universal in Friday’s semi-final matches.