KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 25

Nepal APF Club and Province-I advanced to the final of the Prime Minister Cup Women National Cricket Tournament at the Fapla cricket grounds in Dhangadhi today.

APF defeated Lumbini Province by 38 runs, while Province-I thrashed Sudurpashchim Province by nine wickets in the semi-final matches. The final is slated for Saturday.

In the first semi-final match, Sudurpashchim Province posted 85-7 in their allotted 20 overs before Province-I raced to 86-1 with 19 balls to spare. Skipper Rubina Chhetri and Kajal Shrestha put up 53 runs for the opening partnership before the latter was dismissed for 31-ball 28 that included four boundaries.

Chhetri and Apsari Begam then took the team home without further loss adding 33 runs for the unbroken second wicket. Chhetri remained unbeaten on 31 off 44 balls hitting four boundaries, while Begam scored nine not out. Kabita Joshi took a wicket for Sudurpashchim Province.

Earlier, three batters scored in double figures for Sudurpashchim Province. Samjhana Khadka top scored with 27 off 33 balls, while skipper Ritu Kanoujiya scored 42-ball 25. Dolly Bhatta struck two fours in her eight-ball 12. Jyoti Danwar, Alisha Khadiya, Rubina Chhetri and Sangita Rai took one wicket each for Province-I.

In another match, APF scored 129-3 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting Lumbini to 91-5. Player-ofthe-match Roma Thapa top scored for APF with an unbeaten 42 off 41 balls that included four boundaries, while Mamta Chaudhary scored 22-ball 27 with the help of four fours.

Sita Rana Magar scored an unbeaten 18 off 15 balls hitting two fours, while opener Rajmati Airee scored 14 and Jyoti Pandey contributed 11. Nary Thapa, Madhu DC and Kritika Marasini took one wicket each for Lumbini.

In reply, Nary Thapa scored an unbeaten 38 off 48 balls hitting five boundaries and Nitu Bhandari was the only other batter to score in double figures for Lumbini with 18. Rekha Rawal was the pick of the APF bowlers taking 3-15, while Sita Rana Magar grabbed one wicket.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 26, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.