KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 6
Tribhuvan Army Club and Lumbini Province registered victories in the Prime Minister's Cup National Cricket Tournament here today.
Skipper Binod Bhandari scored a fighting fifty and Sushan Bhari completed five-wicket haul as TAC defeated Gandaki Province by 69 runs and kept their semi-finals hopes alive. Batting first, TAC were bowled out for 165 runs in 47.4 overs before packing Gandaki for 96 runs in 33.2 overs.
With one match in hand, TAC accumulated four points with their second victory, one point behind Gandaki. The departmental side can qualify for last four with a win over already-eliminated Karnali. Nepal APF Club are already into semi-finals with seven points from four matches.
TAC were reeling at 54-6 in 20.2 overs before skipper Bhandari and Bhim Sharki rescued the team with a 79- run partnership for the seventh wicket. Bhandari top scored with 54 off 79 balls that included four boundaries and two sixes, while Sharki struck three fours and a six in his 45- ball 39.
Openers Arjun Saud and Anil Malla had earlier put up 43 runs before TAC lost six wickets in the space of 11 runs. Malla scored 26 off 49 balls with the help of four boundaries, while Saud struck one each four and six in his 40-ball 13.
Skipper Bipin Khatri took 4-23 for Gandaki, while Kamal Pariyar grabbed 2-35. Amrit Gurung, Chandra Paudel and Subash Bhandari bagged one wicket each.
In reply, Gandaki openers Sameer Kandel and Arjun Kumal put up 41 runs before they lost six wickets in the space of 17 runs to be reduced to 58-6. Kandel and Khatri then added 38 runs for the seventh wicket but they lost the last four wickets without adding a single run. Sushan Bhari returned with 5-14 from nine overs for TAC and also earned the player-of-thematch award, while Shahab Alam and Kushal Malla grabbed two wickets each. Bikram Sob bagged a wicket.
At TU Stadium, Lumbini defeated Province-I by 39 runs. Batting first, Lumbini posted 290-8 in 50 overs, while Province-I were packed for 251 runs with 24 balls remaining. After losing Prajjwol Thapa (three) with just nine runs on the board, skipper Dev Khanal and Aakash Tripathi added 103 runs for the second wicket.
Player-of-the-match Khanal scored 89 off 98 balls with the help of 11 fours, while Tripathi struck four boundaries and a six in his 71-ball 45. Basir Ahamad (13) fell cheaply before Sandeep Rajali and Bishal Bikram KC shared a 68 runs for the fifth wicket. Rajali scored 38-ball 44 that included four fours and a six, while KC struck five boundaries in his 36-ball 32. Krishna Karki scored a quick fire 31 off 23 balls hitting three boundaries and two sixes. Deepak Joshi took 4-55 from nine overs and Sarwan Yadav bagged two for Province-I.
In reply, Niraj Mukhiya and Anit Subedi put up 85 runs in 12.3 overs, with both openers hitting 10 each fours. Province-I lost momentum in the middle and they were reduced to 114-5.
Firdosh Ansari (16) and skipper Siddhant Lohani tried to revive the innings with a 71-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Lohani and Sarwan Yadav (15) added 30 runs for the seventh wicket but that was not enough for them to avert the defeat.
Lohani struck 10 fours and two sixes in his 60-ball 74, while Subedi scored 52 off 48 balls and Mukhiya scored 37- ball 46. Sonu Mandal contributed 23-ball 20. Durgesh Gupta, Basir Ahamad and Dev Khanal grabbed two wickets each, while Naresh Nepali, Anil Kharel and Tul Bahadur Thapa bagged one apiece.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 7, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
