Kathmandu, March 2 Makawanpur Cricket Club and New Horizon Cricket Club advanced to the quarter-finals of the first Ruslan Cup Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today. Makawanpur beat Nachhetra Cricket Club of Nuwakot by two runs, while New Horizon hammered Birat Cricket Society by nine wickets. In the day’s first match that was reduced to 17-over-a-side because of late arrival of the teams, Makawanpur opted to bat first and scored 130-8 before restricting Nachhetra to 128-8. In the closely contested match, Rabin Gurung top scored for Makwanpur with 41 off 23 balls that included five fours and two sixes, while Sahil Kansakar made 19 off 22 balls. Ramesh Luitel (16), Suman Sunar (15) and Mani Raj Poudel (11) were other contributors for Makawanpur. Nabin Thapa, Sharad Khadka and Rajesh Rimal grabbed two wickets each for Nachhetra, while Arpan Kunwar and Yogesh Bhat took a wicket apiece. In reply, Nachhetra overcame a bad start to remain in hunt but fell three runs short of target. Rabin Chand remained unbeaten on 31 off 39 balls with two fours and a six, while Nabin Thapa and Rajesh Rimal made 18 runs each. Hari Shankar (15), Naresh Rawal (13) and Sharad Khadka (12) also got starts but failed to convert them in match-winning knocks. Bishal Mandal was the pick of the Makawanpur bowlers taking three wickets, while Ram Naresh Giri claimed two. Rizan Dhakal, Rabin Gurung and Suraj Kurmi grabbed a wicket apiece. In another match, New Horizon Cricket Club bowled Birat Cricket Society out for a paltry 38 runs in 13.1 overs and raced to 39-1 in just 32 balls. Sandeep Sunar scored 18 off 15 balls that included three fours, while Nirmal Thapa remained unbeaten on seven along with Nurdhoj Sen (three). Karan KC claimed the only wicket for Birat. Earlier, Susan Bhari’s 4-11 in four overs helped New Horizon restrict Birat to a low score. Dhiraj Shahi claimed three wickets, while Devendra Somare took two wickets and Ganesh Gaudel grabbed a wicket for New Horizon. Tailender Manoj Mandal remained unbeaten on 15 off 18 balls that included a four and a six, while five of the Birat batsmen even failed to open their account.