KATHMANDU, JANUARY 19
Nepal APF Club defeated Nepal Police Club by 21 runs to win the title of the Prime Minister Cup T20 National Cricket Tournament here at the Tribhuvan University Stadium today.
Batting first, APF were bowled out for 157 runs in the penultimate ball of the innings before NPC reached 136-7. Along with the title, APF earned Rs 500,000, while NPC got Rs 300,000. Losing semi-finalists Bagmati and Tribhuvan Army Club received Rs 50,000 each.
APF lost opener Aasif Sheikh (nine) with just 12 runs on the board before Pradeep Airee (seven) and Lokesh Bam added 31 runs for the second wicket.
Both Airee and Bam were dismissed at the same score of 43 and APF were soon reduced to 81-6 inside 11 overs.
Bam scored a quick fire 27 off 16 balls hitting a four and three sixes, while Deepak Bohara (six) and Puran BK (naught) were dismissed cheaply. Sundeep Jora struck two fours and a six in his 20- ball 24.
Amar Rautela scored 29 off 15 balls hitting two fours and three sixes, while skipper Sharad Vesawkar contributed 19 and Bhuvan Karki scored 17 as APF tailenders added 76 runs in less than 10 overs to help the team post a fighting total. Sagar Dhakal and Dipendra Singh Airee took three wickets each for NPC, while Gulsan Jha grabbed two.
In reply, Airee scored a fine half century but he was not able to take the team home after he received little support from the other end. NPC, who lost opener Pawan Sarraf for a duck in the first ball of the innings, were reduced to 26-3 inside five overs after Amit Shrestha (three) and Anil Sah (10) were dismissed cheaply.
Airee and Aarif Sheikh (12) added 37 runs for the fourth wicket before the former combined with Dilip Nath to share a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket to bring their team back into contention.
Nath scored 22-ball 23 with the help of two fours. At one stage, NPC needed 58 runs from the last five overs with six wickets on hand but they lost three wickets - including that of Airee - in the space of 12 runs to be 131-7 with two balls remaining.
Airee struck three fours and two sixes in his 54-ball 65.
Player-of-the-match Kishore Mahato was the pick of the APF bowlers taking 3-17 from four overs, while Abinash Bohara, Amar Rautela and Dipak Bohara grabbed one each.
Aasif Sheikh of APF was declared the player of the series and he earned Rs 30,000.
NPC's Kushal Bhurtel and Lumbini's Anil Kharel were named the best batsman and bowler respectively and they got Rs 20,000 each.
A total of 10 teams - seven provinces and three departmental sides - took part in the tournament.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
