Kalaiya, April 19

Milan Cricket Academy and Nepal APF Club won their matches of the Kalaiya Cricket League Women’s Twenty20 Tournament here at the Siddheshwor grounds today.

Milan defeated Rising Cricket Women by seven wickets, while APF registered an eight-wicket victory over Kalaiya Cricket Club.

In the day’s first match, RCW were bowled out for 56 runs in 16.4 overs before Milan raced to 57-3 in 11.4 overs. Asked to take the first strike, RCW lost opener Shehnaz Parvin for a duck in the third over, while another opener Barsha Rana (one) was out in fourth over with just four runs on the board.

Samna Pun Magar and Boisakhi added 26 runs for the third wicket before RCW lost three wickets in as many balls to be 30-5. Sabnam Rai removed Magar (nine) and Boisakhi in last two balls of the 12th over, while Suman Bist accounted for Saraswati Chaudhary (naught) in the first ball of the 13th over.

RCW then lost three more wickets in the space of eight runs and they were in deep trouble at 48-8 before the last two wickets could add eight runs. Boisakhi was the lone RCW batter to score in double figures, scoring 15 off 31 balls hitting a boundary. Anu Chaudhary and skipper Arati Bidari contributed eight runs each.

Sabnam Rai (3-12) and Sarita Rai (3-16) shared six wickets between them, while Milan Cricket Academy skipper Rubina Chhetry claimed 2-10 and Suman Bist pocketed one wicket.

In reply, Milan recovered from 6-3 to record comprehensive victory. Milan lost openers Rubina Chhetry (naught) and Kajal Shrestha (five) along with Gita Gosai (naught) cheaply inside four overs. Kabita Kunwar dismissed all three batters to return with the figures of 3-11 from three overs.

Nery Thapa and  Roma Thapa then took the team home without further loss adding 51 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket. Nery struck three fours in her unbeaten 27 off 31 balls, while Roma remained unbeaten on 14 off 22 balls that included a boundary.

In another match, KCC were bowled out for a paltry 26 runs in 11.4 overs before APF reached 27-2 in just 4.4 overs. None of the KCC batters were able to score in double figures with Sita Shrestha and Dolly Bhatiya being the best contributors with six runs each.

Karuna Bhandari of APF completed a hat-trick and she returned with the figures of 4-4 from 2.4 overs and that also earned her the player-of-the-match award. Bhandari bowled Nisha Giri (naught) in the first ball of the 12th over and she had Karuna Joshi caught by Pyari Chaudhary in the next ball before bowling Puja Giri (duck) in the third ball of

the over. Bhandari was ably supported by Rekha Rawal (3-6) and Ritu Kanaujiya (2-9), while Sonu Khadka took one wicket.

In reply, APF openers Jyoti Pandey and Sanju Lama put on 22 runs on the board before the former was trapped leg before the wicket by Saru Pun in the fourth over. Pandey top scored with 12 off 14 balls hitting two boundaries.

Rewati Dhami bowled Indu Verma for a duck before Lama (three) and Mamta Chaudhary (four) took

the team home without further loss.