KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 11

Tribhuvan Army Club defeated Nepal Police Club by two wickets in the thrilling semi-final of the Prime Minister's Cup National Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Batting first, NPC amassed 304-4 riding on skipper Dipendra Singh Airee's brilliant century, while TAC reached 309-8 with one ball to spare to complete a record run chase. TAC beat the previous best of 240-run target chased down by Nepal APF Club against Gandaki in 2008. TAC will face fellow departmental side APF in Saturday's final.

Chasing a mammoth target, TAC lost opener Arjun Chauhan (11) and Bhim Sharki (10) with 46 runs on the board in nine overs. Hari Chauhan and Rohit Paudel brought TAC back into the match with a 135-run partnership for the third wicket. Paudel and skipper Binod Bhandari added 32 runs for the fourth wicket, while Bhandari and Kushal Malla shared a 29-run stand for the fifth wicket.

TAC then lost two wickets in the 43rd over to be reduced to 242-6. Rajesh Pulami and Bikram Sob took the team closer to victory with a 53- run partnership for the seventh wicket but they lost two more wickets in the space of two runs to be 297-8 with eight runs needed from the last seven balls.

Player-of-the-match Pulami hit Dipendra Singh Airee for a four in the second ball of the last over and took a single in the next delivery. Shahab Alam collected one run in the next ball and Pulami finished it off in style with a six in the penultimate delivery.

Paudel top scored with 87-ball 89 with the help of nine fours, while Chauhan hit eight boundaries and a six in his 92-ball 75. Pulami remained unbeaten on 43 off 37 balls that included three fours and two sixes, whereas skipper Bhandari hit three boundaries and two sixes in his 30- ball 32. Sob clobbered three boundaries and two sixes in his quick fire 30 off 18 balls. Karan KC was the pick of the NPC bowlers taking 6-52 from 10 overs, while Rashid Khan and Lalit Rajbanshi grabbed one each.

Earlier, NPC skipper Airee scored a brilliant century scoring 140 off just 125 balls that included 11 boundaries and five sixes, while Aarif Sheikh remained unbeaten on 109-ball 91 with the help of eight fours and two sixes. After being reduced to 67-3 in 12.3 overs, Airee and Sheikh shared a 104- run partnership for the fourth wicket. Sheikh and Karan KC (eight) then added 23 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel hit five fours and a six in his 32-ball 31, while Sunil Dhamala (13) and Amit Shrestha (13) also scored in double figures. Bikram Sob took 3-66 for TAC, while Sushan Bhari grabbed one wicket.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.