KATHMANDU, MARCH 6
Departmental sides Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club made winning starts in the Kathmandu Mayor's Cup Cricket Tournament here today.
In the opening match at the TU Stadium, APF defeated departmental rivals Tribhuvan Army Club by one wicket. Batting first, TAC were bowled out for 235 runs in their allotted 50 overs before APF reached 236-9 with two balls to spare.
Invited to take the first strike, TAC made a bright start with openers Sompal Kami and Lokesh Bam putting up 61 runs on the board before they lost three quick wickets.
Kami was the first to depart, caught by Aasif Khan off Basant Regmi, for 28 off 53 balls that included two each fours and sixes. Bam hit four boundaries in his 51-ball 30, while Bhim Sharki was dismissed for 18.
Rohit Paudel and skipper Binod Bhandari shared a 71- run partnership for fourth wicket but the down order failed to click and the team lost last six wickets for a paltry 16 runs.
Paudel top scored with 56 off 78 balls hitting three fours, while Bhandari struck a four and three sixes in his run-a-ball 42. Rajesh Pulami (17) and Kushal Malla (11) were the other batsmen to score in double figures for the TAC. Abinash Bohara took 3-41 for APF, while Amar Routela and Bhuvan Karki claimed two wickets each.
Kamal Airee and Basant Regmi grabbed one each.
In reply, APF were reduced to 16-4 inside eight overs before Shankar Rana and Sumit Maharjan revived the innings with a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Rana departed for 33 off 43 balls that included three fours and a six. Maharjan and Basant Regmi then shared a 71-run partnership for the seventh wicket to bring the team back to contention. Maharjan scored 78-ball 60 with the help of eight fours, while man-ofthe-match Regmi struck three boundaries and a six in his 79- ball 49.
Amar Routela then scored a quick fire 38 off 31 balls hitting a four and four sixes to take the team close to victory. The unbroken last-wicket pair of Kamal Airee (four) and Abinash Bohara (seven) completed the victory scoring seven runs required in the first four balls of the final over.
In another match at the Mulpani grounds, NPC defended a low score to beat Bagmati Province by two runs. NPC were bowled out for a paltry 72 runs in 25.2 overs but they were able to pack Bagmati for 70 runs in 27.2 overs.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 07, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
