KATHMANDU: Part-time bowler Dipendra Chaudhary conceded just one run in the final over as Region-III (Kathmandu) snatched a thrilling three-run victory over Region-IV (Bhairahawa) in the final of the Springwood Twenty20 National Cricket Tournament here on Friday. Batting first after winning the toss at the TU Stadium, Kathmandu were bowled out for 94 runs — their lowest in the tournament. Bhairahawa, in reply, were packed for 91. Both the teams were all out in the penultimate ball of their innings.Bhairahawa were cruising towards victory after Akash Gupta’s fiery 14-ball 22. Akash brought the team in sight of victory and when he was out, Bhairahawa needed 14 runs from the last three overs with three wickets on hand. Manoj Baishya and Rahul Kumar BK scored four runs from the 18th over. Skipper Paras Khadka bowled the 19th over and conceded five runs in the first five balls and ran out Rahul with the last ball. Bhairahawa needed just five runs from the last over to win the inaugural shortest-version tournament with two wickets on hand. Paras entrusted part-time bowler Chaudhary and he did the trick to help his team lift the trophy. The first ball went for dot and Paras ran out Amrit Bhattarai with the second ball, making it 90-9. After two more dot balls, Rom Shrestha ran out Manoj Baishya while trying to take the second run igniting celebrations from the Kathmandu camp to the disappointment of the crowd at the stadium, who were cheering every run from Bhairahawa bat. It was the middle order batsmen — Basanta Regmi (15), Sagar Khadka (12), skipper Shakti Gauchan (18) and Akash Gupta (22) — who gave some ray of hopes after the top order failure. Opener Sagar Pun was caught behind off Paras in the fifth ball of the innings, while Abhaya Rana had other opener Faizal Khan caught by Raju Basnyat for three runs in the second over. Bhairahawa were reeling at 29-4 in seven overs. Needing 36 runs off the last five overs, Akash hit Raju Basnet for six in the 16th over and Rom Shrestha for a six and four in the next over to reduce the asking rate. He was caught at point by Dipendra off Rom for 22 off just 14 balls. Dipendra had dropped the batsman at the same position earlier when he had not opened the accounts. Abhaya, Rom and Raju took two wickets each, while skipper Paras claimed one for Kathmandu. Earlier, Kathmandu made a brisk start with openers Paresh Lohani and Dipendra Chaudhary adding 31 runs in 21 balls before Paresh was bowled by Shakti Gauchan. Kathmandu lost another wicket in the form of Sunam Gautam, bowled by Amrit Bhattarai with 41 runs on the board and it became 54-3 when Paras was caught by Faizal Khan off Shakti. Kathmandu came under pressure when Dipendra was caught by Akash off Shakti in the last ball of 12th over. The scoreboard read 79-6 in 15.5 overs and Kathmandu were on back foot. Apart from the openers — Paresh scored 22 off 15 balls including five fours and Dipendra hit two fours in his 30-ball 23 — it was Gyanendra Malla, who scored in double figures, 13 off 15 balls including a boundary. Shakti was the pick of the Bhairahawa bowlers with 4-14 off 3.3 overs, while Amrit Bhattarai, Basanta Regmi, Rahul BK and Sagar Khadka all took one wicket each. The last over heroics earned Dipendra the man of the match award. Dipendra, who scored 194 runs at an average of 32.33 and took seven wickets at an average of 5.42, also received the man of the series award and Rs 15,000. Paresh Lohani was declared the best batsman of the tournament after the Kathmandu opener scored 175 off 165 balls at an average of 58.33, while Shakti Gauchan, who took 9-45 in 18.2 overs at an average of 5.0, was named the best bowler. Both the players earned Rs 10,000 each. Champions Kathmandu received Rs 70,000 and Bhairahawa got Rs 40,000.

Record-setting Mehboob Alam honoured

KATHMANDU: The sponsors of the senior national team, Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank, felicitated the record making cricketer Mehboob Alam here on Friday Both the sponsors honoured Alam with Rs 50,000 each during the presentation ceremony of the Springwood Twenty20 National Cricket Tournament at the TU Stadium. The left-arm seamer Alam had written his name in the history book when he completed a 10-wicket haul in Nepal’s 219-run victory over Mozambique at the ICCWorld Cricket League Division-V in Jersey on May 25, 2008. The 10-wicket haul was the first in any level of international cricket recognised by the International Cricket Council.

Khadka to go to Australia

KATHMANDU: National team cricketer Sagar Khadka is on Monday leaving for Australia to pursue higher studies. The Region-IV (Bhairahawa) all-rounder probably played his last match in the Springwood Twenty20 National Cricket Tournament final against Region-III (Kathmandu) at the TU Stadium on Friday. Khadka was the key member of the Nepali team that won the ACC Under-15 Elite Cup in the UAE in 2005 and ACC U-19 Elite Cup in Malaysia in 2007. He has been a member of the national team since 2005.

Third Umpire system begins

KATHMANDU: Cricket Association of Nepal in association with Nepal TV began the third-umpire referral system for the first time in domestic cricket in Nepal at the Springwood Twenty20 National Cricket Tournament final between Kathmandu and Bhairahawa at the TU Stadium on Friday. Akash Gupta’s stumping confirmation call became the first case referred to the third umpire. The on-field umpires Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan and Basudev Lal Karn also made two other referrals during the match to the third umpire Durga Nath Subedi. The system was first also used in 1998 — during international matches. — HNS