Kathmandu, May 28

Sushan Bhari claimed six wickets as Tribhuvan Army Club saw off Nepal Police Club by seven wickets in the first Prime Minister Cup One-day National Men’s Cricket Tournament here at the Tribhuvan University Stadium today.

TAC remained unbeaten and topped Group B with six points, while NPC finished as group runners up with four points. Other two sides of the group, Eastern Region and Far-western Region were eliminated from group stage after they lost against the departmental sides.

In a match between the two teams who had made it to the semi-finals, NPC were bowled out for a paltry 109 runs in 25.5 overs after they were invited to take the strike. In reply, TAC raced to 113-3 in 30.4 overs.

Dilip Nath scored a half century but he did not get much support from the other end and the Policemen were dismissed for a low total. Nath scored 50 off 71 balls hitting five boundaries. Dipendra Singh Airee was the only other batsman to reach double figures, scoring 27-ball 22 that included four boundaries.

TAC skipper Binod Bhandari’s decision of opting to field first paid off as Sompal Kami dismissed both the openers in the first over. Kami had Sunil Dhamala caught by Bhandari for a golden duck, while Raju Rijal handed an easy catch to Amit Shrestha, also for a duck in the last ball of the first over with only one run on the board.

Nath and Airee added 48 runs for the third wicket and tried to revive the NPC innings before the latter was trapped leg before the wicket by Sagar Pun in the 10th over. Pun also had Aarif Sheikh (four) caught by Bhandari in the 13th over.

Bhari then claimed the remaining six wickets, including Dilip Nath, to help TAC restrict their departmental rivals to a low score. Bhari returned with the figures of 6-16 from 7.5 overs. Kami (2-38) and Sagar Pun (2-26) shared four wickets between them.

In reply, TAC innings revolved around skipper Binod Bhandari. Bhandari remained unbeaten on 46 off 50 balls that included seven boundaries and a six, while Naresh Budhayer scored 41 off 74 balls hitting three fours and a six.

TAC also had a disastrous run chase as opener Anil Kumar Mandal (one) was bowled by Lalit Bhandari in the first ball of the third over with only five runs on the board and Sagar Pun (11) was caught by Dipendra Singh Airee off Sushil Kandel in the sixth over.

Bhandari then reduced TAC to 37-3 in 14 overs when he dismissed Mahesh Chhetri (11) before skipper Bhandari and Budhayer took the team home adding 76 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket. Lalit Bhandari took 2-40 and Sushil Kandel claimed 1-19 for NPC.

TAC’s Sushan Bhari won the man-of-the-match award and got Rs 5,000, while his team received Rs 25,000 as victory bonus. On Monday, Western Development Region will face Nepal APF Club in the first match of Group A.