Dhangadhi, February 22

Nepal APF Club and Central Region entered the semi-finals of the Prime Minister Cup Women’s National Cricket Tournament here at the Fapla cricket grounds today.

Central defeated Western Region by 44 runs in the Group A match and made it to the last four along with Far-western Region, who were not in action today. With two losses in a row, Western — who lost the opening match against Far-western — were eliminated from the group stage. Tomorrow’s match between Mid-western and Far-western will decide the group winners.

Batting first, Central posted 113-4 in 20 overs before Western managed 69-7. Sita Shrestha top scored for Central with 49 off 45 balls with the help of eight fours and a six. Kanchan Shrestha (24) and Roshani Bohara (10) also contributed in double figures. Player-of-the-match Sita and Kanchan added 82 runs for the third wicket after Central were reduced to 20-2 inside four overs.

In reply, Nitu Bhandari (10) was the lone batter to reach double figure mark for Western. Ashwini Karmacharya and Aarati Bidari took two wickets each for Central.

In Group B, APF defeated Eastern by four wickets. Batting first, Eastern scored 64-5 before APF raced to the victory losing six wickets in 15.5 overs.

Skipper Rubina Chhetri scored 27 runs for Eastern, while others failed to reach double figures. Sonu Khadka took two wickets for APF.

In reply, APF overcame a disastrous start. They were reduced to 7-5, thanks to Eastern skipper Chhetri’s disciplined bowling. Karuna Bhandari and Mamata Chaudhary added 22 runs for the sixth wicket.

Player-of-the-match Bhandari then added 37 runs for the seventh wicket with Indu Verma. Bhandari, Chaudhary and Verma all scored 16 runs. Chhetri took three wickets for Eastern.