KATHMANDU, JANUARY 22

Bagmati Province registered their third consecutive victory and Provice-1 recorded first win in the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament here on Friday.

Bagmati defeated Province-2 by six wickets in the Group B match at the Mulpani Cricket Grounds and they accumulated maximum six points to stay at the top. Nepal Police Club are second with four, while Lumbini have two points.

Province-2 and Sudurpashchim are yet to open their accounts.

Bating first, Province-2 were bowled out for 179 runs before Bagmati reached 181- 4 with 10 balls to spare.

Bibek Yadav fought the lonely battle for Province-2 scoring 66 off 74 balls with the help of three each fours and sixes. Kumar Thapa (22) was the next best contributor.

Gautam KC was the pick of the Bagmati bowlers taking 4-29 from 10 overs that also earned him the man-ofthe-match award, while Ram Naresh Giri claimed 2-35. Nandan Yadav, Tilak Bhandari and Bipin Acharya bagged one wicket each.

In reply, Bagmati lost Aadil Khan (five) cheaply before opener Aakash Thapa and Bibhatsu Thapa added 57 runs for the second wicket.

Bibhatsu and Prithu Baskota then shared a 54-run partnership for the third wicket.

Aakash scored 32 off 62 balls hitting four boundaries, while Bibhatsu struck three fours in his 93-ball 47.

Baskota and Ishan Pandey (15) added 36 runs for the fourth wicket before the former combined with skipper Gyanendra Malla to take the team home without further loss. Baskota remained unbeaten on 63 off 75 balls, while Malla hit a four in his 12-ball seven not out. Harishankar Shah took 2-36 for Province-2, while Bishal Shusling and Kumar Thapa bagged one wicket each.

In Group A match played at the TU Stadium, Province-1 beat Karnali Province by 59 runs. Batting first, Province-1 posted 215-9 in their allotted 50 overs before packing Karnali for 156 runs with 15 overs to spare.

Skipper Siddhant Lohani top scored for Province-1 with 66 off 97 balls with the help of nine boundaries, while Shuvankar Urao struck three fours and two sixes in his 28-ball 36. Minash Thapa contributed 23- ball 25, while Firdosh Ansari (17), Sarwan Yadav (17) and Rajan Magar (10) scored in double figures.

Rajendra Shahi was the pick of the Karnali bowlers taking 3-36 and he was ably supported by Dinesh Adhikari (2-43) and Anuj Chunara (2-49). Diwan Pun and Raj Shah also grabbed a wicket each.

In reply, Karnali made a good start to the run chase with openers Rabindra Shahi and Bipin Rawal putting up 63 runs inside 10 overs but they squandered a chance to register their second win. Karnali lost last seven wickets for a paltry 36 runs. Bipin Rawal top scored with 34-ball 47 hitting eight boundaries and two sixes, while Nischal Rawal hit five fours in his 31 off 47 balls.

Skipper Shahi scored 18, while Diwan Pun and Dinesh Adhikari also contributed in double figures.

After contributing important runs with the bat, manof-the-match Minash Thapa dominated with the ball taking 5-26 from10 overs.

Dipesh Kandel took 3-23 and Manoj Tamang bagged 2-39 for Province-1. Despite the win, Province-1 are out of the tournament along with Gandaki, who also recorded one victory.