KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 1
Nepal APF Club and Province-I registered victories in the Prime Minister Cup National Cricket Tournament here today.
APF thrashed Sudurpashchim Province by 10 wickets at the Mulpani grounds for their second consecutive victory. Invited to take the first strike, Sudurpashchim were bowled out for a paltry 67 runs in 27 overs before APF raced to 70-0 in 11.2 overs.
Sudurpashchim skipper Raju Rijal, who scored 24 off 68 balls hitting two fours, was the lone batsman to contribute in double figure for the team. Bhuvan Karki was the pick of the APF bowlers taking 4-22 from nine overs, while Kamal Airee and Mousom Dhakal bagged two wickets each. Kishore Mahato and Amar Routela also grabbed one wicket apiece.
In reply, APF openers Pradeep Airee and Aasif Sheikh took the team home with 190 balls to spare.
Airee struck a four and two sixes in his 36-ball 25, while Sheikh remained unbeaten on 42 off 32 balls that included seven boundaries and a six.
At the TU Stadium, Province-I outplayed Bagmati Province by 69 runs to register their first win in two matches. Batting first, Province-I were all out for 304 runs in 49.5 overs, while Bagmati were packed for 235 runs with 25 balls to spare.
Ankit Subedi scored a century, while skipper Siddhant Lohani played a fiery knock to guide Province-I to a huge total. They also shared a 102-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Player-of-thematch Subedi scored 110 off 134 balls and his innings was laced with 12 boundaries and a six. Skipper Lohani struck three fours and eight sixes in his entertaining 40-ball 72.
Bibek Anand Mehta (30), Sonu Ansari (19), Sarwan Yadav (11), Niraj Mukhiya (10) and Firdosh Ansari (10 not out) contributed in double figures.
Ramnaresh Giri of Bagmati completed a five-wicket haul taking 5-42 from 9.5 overs but he fell at the losing end.
In reply, seven Bagmati batters got good starts but no one could convert them into big knocks. Nandan Yadav top scored for the team with 43 off 48 balls that included three each sixes and fours.
Opener Ishan Pandey scored 61- ball 35, while Ramnaresh Giri contributed 27-ball 28 with the help of two fours and a six.
Skipper Gyanendra Malla hit three fours and a six in his 43-ball 27, while Durgesh Thapa (26), Ashutosh Ghiraiya (14) and Pratis GC (12) scored in double figures.
Sarwan Yadav took three wickets for Province-I, while Firdosh Ansari, Dipak Joshi and skipper Lohani grabbed two each. Luv Kamat also bagged a wicket.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 2, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
