Army open campaign with easy win
Kathmandu, May 31
Tribhuvan Army Club defeated Province2 by 55 runs under Duckworth-Lewis method in the Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.
Batting first, TAC were bowled out for 244 runs before Province2 - chasing a revised target of 238 runs from 40 overs - scored 182-9. After the day's result, all five teams in Group A have two points each. Nepal APF Club lead the table on better net run rate, while TAC are second, followed by Province4, Province2 and Province1.
TAC made slow start after opener Sagar Pun (eight) was bowled by Divyanshu Mallick with just nine runs on the board. Another opener Anil Mandal and skipper Binod Bhandari added 40 runs for the second wicket before the latter was caught and bowled by Samsad Sheikh for 12 off 16 balls that included four boundaries and a six.
Mandal then added another 55 runs for the third wicket with Raju Rijal to take the team score past three figures. Mandal scored 35 off 65 balls hitting four boundaries, while Rijal struck five fours and a six in his 85-ball 50.
Rajesh Pulami Magar scored 44-ball 40 hitting two each fours and sixes, while Sompal Kami struck three fours and a six in his quick fire 41 off 28 balls. Bhim Sarki (15) and Sushan Bhari (12) also scored in double figures for TAC. Divyanshu Mallick was the pick of the Province2 bowlers taking 3-42 off 8.3 overs, while Rashid Khan (2-68), Samsaf Sheikh (2-32) and Mehboob Alam (2-34) shared six wickets among them.
In reply, four Province2 batsmen got good starts but they failed to take the team home. Sompal Kami made the breakthrough in the third over by trapping Kundan Singh leg before the wicket at a time when Provice2 had put on 13 runs on the board. Opener Harishankar Shah and Hasim Ansari were consolidating the innings when rain stopped the match for about an hour.
On resumption, Province2 received the revised target of 238 from 40 overs. Shah and Ansari added 58 runs for second wicket before the former handed a return catch to Sagar Pun after scoring 34 off 33 balls that included four fours and a six.
Bhari reduced Province2 to 74-4 when he struck twice in the 15th over. He first trapped Ansari leg before the wicket for 28 off 38 balls that included four fours and then bowled Bishal Shusling (naught).
Province2 lost another four wickets for 26 runs before Rashid Khan and Suraj Patel added 43 runs for the ninth wicket. Khan scored 34 off 40 balls hitting three fours and a six. Patel remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 48 that included six fours and two sixes. Man-of-the-match Sompal Kami took 3-45 from eight overs, while Sagar Pun (2-23), Sushan Bhari (2-10) and Shahab Alam (2-22) took two wickets each.
