Kathmandu, May 26

The first Prime Minister Cup One-day National Men’s Cricket Tournament match between Far-western Region and Eastern Region was abandoned due to rain here at the TU Stadium today.

Chasing a modest target of 155 runs, Eastern Region were reeling at 22-4 in four overs when the rain stopped play. As the match was not possible of the persistent rain and wet outfield, officials decided to abandon the game. The bottom two teams of Group B shared points and opened their accounts.

Nepal Police Club, who are at the top of the table with four points from two matches, advanced to the semi-finals after the day’s result. Fellow departmental side Tribhuvan Army Club, who have two points from one match, are second. The result meant Eastern Region — who lost their previous two matches — were out of the semi-final race.

Batting first, Far-western Region were bowled out for 153 runs in 45.2 overs. Bijay Rana top scored with 55 off 108 balls that included two boundaries, while Santosh Bhatta (22), Anil Kumar Thapa (11) and Roshan Nepali (10) were the other batsmen who scored in double figures for the team.

Sagar Dhakal (3-18) and Pushpa Thapa (3-31) shared six wickets between them, while Minash Thapa took 2-32. Firdosh Ansari and Mukund Yadav also pocketed one wicket each for Eastern Region.

Eastern could not make a desired start to their run chase in the must-win match to keep their semi-finals hopes alive. Opener Bidhan Goswami was dismissed for a naught with just five runs on the board, while they were reduced to 13-2 after Binod Lama bowled Ankit Subedi (eight).

Eastern then lost two quick wickets and were reeling at 16-4. Jugal Chaudhary (one) and Pushpa Thapa (six) had added six runs for the fifth wicket before the rain stopped play. Lama returned with the figures of 3-14, while Sagar Bhandari took 1-8 from two overs each.

A total of eight teams — five regional sides and three departmental clubs — are taking part in the biggest tournament in terms of cash prizes. The teams are divided into two groups with top two making it to the semi-finals from both pools. The winners will be richer by two million rupees, while the runners-up will earn one million rupees. The tournament — first 50-over national level tournament in five years — is organised by National Sports Council under the auspices of Kathmandu Cricket Training Centre.