Birgunj make it to semi-finals

Birgunj, October 21:

Pratap Maharjan struck a half century to guide Region No 2 (Birgunj) to a six-wicket victory and a place in the semi-finals of the Sintez MM Twenty20 National Cricket Tournament here today.

Birgunj joined Region No 1 (Biratnagar), Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) and Region No 1 (Kathmandu) in the last four.

At the Narayani Stadium, Baitadi made 99-9 in 20 overs after put into bat first. Birgunj overcame the total for the loss of four wickets in 14 overs.

Pradeep Airee top-scored 36 for Baitadi. Chandra Saud chipped in with 13 and Shakti Bhandari contributed 12. Skipper Binod Das and Sanjog Karna claimed two wickets each for Birgunj.

In reply, man of the match Maharjan struck nine fours to score 51 off 38 balls to guide Birgunj to victory. Hasim Ansari remained unbeaten on 19 and Shovakant Pandey contributed 10.

Earlier in the first match, Biratnagar beat Kathmandu by six wickets. Batting first, Kathmandu scored 147-7 but Biratnagar chased the total for the loss of four wickets 18.5 overs.

Sanjay Shrestha scored 34 runs for Kathmandu while Sharad Vesawkar made 32 and Paras Khada 21. Mehboob Alam and Raj Kumar Pradhan picked up two wickets apiece for Biratnagar.

In reply, man of the match Lal Bahadur Sharma scored unbeaten 41 to help Biratnagar surpass the total. Raj Kumar Pradhan scored 36 and Punya Thapa 34 for Biratnagar. Ritesh Singh claimed two wickets for Kathmandu.

Bhairahawa will take on Birgunj in the first semi-final on Wednesday.