KATHMANDU, JANUARY 18

Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club advanced to the final of the Prime Minster Cup T20 National Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

APF defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by 47 runs, while NPC registered a 50-run victory over Bagmati Province in the semi-final matches. The final is slated for Wednesday.

Batting first, APF amassed 230-2 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting TAC to 183-9.

Openers Pradeep Airee and Aasif Sheikh both scored half centuries as they put on 150 runs in 15 overs before Lokesh Bam played a whirlwind knock scoring an unbeaten 66 off just 18 balls. Bam struck two fours and nine sixes in his innings.

Player-of-the-match Bam and Airee shared a 68-run partnership for the unbroken third wicket to ensure a 200-plus total on the board. Sheikh top scored with 43-ball 84 with the help of 10 fours and five sixes, whereas Airee hit seven boundaries and a six in his 53-ball 57.

Skipper Sharad Vesawkar hit two fours in his six-ball nine. Jitendra Mukhiya and Sumit Shrestha bagged one wicket each for TAC.

TAC openers Bhim Sharki and Hari Chauhan made a positive start to their run chase scoring 55 runs in 5.3 overs before APF skipper Vesawkar struck twice in the sixth over to reduce them to 57-2. It soon became 70-5 and TAC never recovered.

Rajesh Pulami top scored for TAC with 21-ball 38 hitting a four and four sixes, while Sharki struck five fours and a six in his 19-ball 35. APF skipper Vesawkar returned with 3-16 from four overs, while Bhuvan Karki and Abinash Bohara grabbed two wickets each.

In another semi-final match, NPC posted 155-5 in 20 overs before restricting Bagmati to 105-8. Pawan Sarraf top scored for NPC with 54-ball 59 with the help of three each fours and sixes, while Dilip Nath contributed 31 off 16 balls that included two apiece fours and sixes. Anil Sah scored 25, while Aarif Sheikh contributed 12.

Nandan Yadav and Rijan Dhakal grabbed two wickets each for Bagmati.

In reply, Aadil Khan top scored for Bagmati with 33-ball 27, while skipper Gyanendra Malla scored 23 off 16 balls hitting four fours. Ramnaresh Giri remained unbeaten on 22, while Rijan Dhakal scored 15 not out. Player-of-the-match Dipendra Singh Airee completed five-wicket haul taking 5-10 from four overs, while Sagar Dhakal took two wickets for the departmental team.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 19, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.