KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 28

Nepal APF Club defeated Sudurpashchim Province by eight wickets to defend the title of the Lalitpur Mayor Women Championship cricket tournament at the TU Stadium today.

Batting first, Sudurpashchim posted 113-4 in their allotted 20 overs before the defending champions raced to 114-2 with 25 balls to spare. Along with the title, APF got Rs 200,000, while Sudurpashchim received Rs 100,000. APF had defeated Sudurpashchim by the same margin in the previous edition.

Opting to bat first, Sudurpashchim openers Rewati Dhami (10) and Bindu Rawal put on 48 runs in 11 overs before both of them were dismissed in the space of four runs. Kabita Kunwar and Dolly Bhatta then added 52 runs for the third wicket to help the team post a fighting total. Rawal top scored with 36- ball 37 that included five boundaries.

Bhatta struck four boundaries and a six in her quick fire 36 off 25 balls, while Kunwar remained unbeaten on 25-ball 24. Sushma Shrestha took 2-22 from four overs, while APF fielders affected to run outs.

APF openers Jyoti Pandey and skipper Sita Rana Magar made a solid reply putting on 58 runs in seven overs. After Rana Magar was out for 22-ball 19 that included three boundaries, Pandey combined with Indu Barma to share a 39-run partnership for the second wicket to take their team towards victory. Pandey scored 43 off 44 balls hitting five boundaries.

Barma and Roma Thapa then took the team home without further loss adding 17 runs for the unbroken third wicket.

Barma remained unbeaten on 29 off just 24 balls that included two boundaries and a six, while Thapa scored five not out. Samjhana Khadka and Laxmi Saud took one wicket each for Sudurpashchim.

Jyoti Pandey of APF took three individual awards - player of the match, best batter of the tournament and player of the series - on the final day and earned a total of Rs 43,000.

Ishwori Bista of Sudurpashchim was named the best bowler and she got Rs 15,000. A total of five teams took part in the tournament organised by Cricket Association of Nepal under the sponsorship of Lalitpur Metropolitan City.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 1 2022, of The Himalayan Times.