Himalayan News Service

Birgunj, January 8

Biratnagar (Region No 1) beat Birgunj (Region No 2) by 42 runs and entered the final of the Birendra Memorial National Cricket Tournament where it will meet Bhairhawa.

At Adarshanagar Cricket Stadium, Biratnagar skipper Dipendra Chaudhary won the toss and elected to bat. They scored 174 runs for the loss of seven overs in their allotted 40 overs. Opener Mehboob Alam scored a quick fire 20 off 17 balls including two huge sixes before being dismissed by Binod Das, while other opener Ashish Lama was caught by Binod Das off the bowling of Sekh Parvej for four runs.

Anish Aryal scored 45 off 92 balls including five hits to the ropes, while Yunil Shrestha scored 12 off 31 balls. Sanjaya Shrestha scored 13 runs, whereas Paras Luniya remained unbeaten on 28 off 32 balls, which included two fours. R K Pradhan hit two boundaries in his 13-ball 19, while Ayush Shrestha scored unbeaten 15 off 11 balls.

For Birgunj, Narayan Patel took three wickets conceding 25 runs in five overs, while Binod Das and Sekh Parvej grabbed one wicket each.

In reply, Paras Luniya and R K Pradhan took three wickets each as Birjung failed to overcome the target and were packed off for 132 runs in 36.1 overs.

Opener Pratap Maharjan scored 10 off 21 balls before being dismissed by Hemanta Adhikari, while other opener Jitendra Yadav was caught and bowled by Paras Luniya for 17. Paras also dismissed Bikash Dali (24), the highest scorer for Birgunj, and national team vice captain Binod Das (10).

R K Pradhan ran through tailenders and dismissed Sameer Thapa (15), Murtuja Hawari (3) and Suraj Timilsina (12) to return with the figures of 8-1-25-3. Paras Luniya finished with the figures of 8-3-25-3.

In other match held in Kalaiya, Kathmandu defeated Bhairahawa (region No 4) by one wicket, but it did not make any difference as Bhairhawa had already entered the final. Bhairahawa were bowled out for 141 runs in 36.2 overs.

No 7 batsman Amit Shrstha top-scored for the team with 30 off 54 balls, while Manoj Vaishya scored 25 off 43 balls. Skipper Raju Khadka scored 21 off 18 balls including two fours and a six, while Vijay Sharma scored 20 off 27 balls.

For Kathmandu, Suman Kaji Sthapit took three wickets conceding 29 runs in eight overs, while Kalam Ali grabbed two wickets giving away 23 runs in sx overs.

In reply, Kathmandu overcame the target losing nine wickets on the last ball. Opener Purushottam Bista fell for seven runs, while other opener Kalam Ali was caught by P M Dixit off the bowling of Suman Chhetre for a duck.

Prasanna Shakya scored 27 off 49 balls including three hits to the fence, while Dhiraj Gyawali scored 20 runs before being run out. Raju Basnyat hit four boundaries in his 30-ball 21, whereas Abhay Poudel scored 20 off 34 balls. Anunaya Basnet remained unbeaten on 14, while Niraj Basnet departed after scoring 10 runs. Biken Shakya hit the only six of the innings in his unbeaten two-ball eight. For Bhairahawa, Suman T Chhetre took three wickets conceding 15 runs in six overs, while Amit Shakya grabbed two wickets giving away 26 runs in six overs.

Paras Luniya of Biratnagar and Biken Shakya of Kathmandu were declared the man of the matches.

On Friday, Kathmandu will take on Biratnagar in a league match.