Kathmandu, May 6

Farwest and Province-2 advanced to the final of the Manmohan Memorial Inter-Province U-16 National Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Farwest defeated Province-1 by 30 runs in the first semi-final match.

Batting first, Farwest posted 165-9 in their allotted 30 overs before packing Province for 135 runs in 25.2 overs. Suwash Ayer top scored for Farwest with 43 off 41 balls. The Farwest skipper struck seven boundaries in his 41-ball knock that also earned him the man-of-the match award.

Ashish Bhatta remained unbeaten on 26 off 32 balls that included a four, while Dhirendra Thakur scored 26-ball 25 hitting two fours.

Sandeep Bista (22) and Anil Thapa (20) also contributed in double figures.

Sarwan Kisku was the pick of the Province-1 bowlers taking 3-32, while Bipin Mahato took two wickets and Amit Roy grabbed one.

In reply, Suman Sundas scored a quick fire 44 runs off 35 balls hitting six boundaries and Einstein Rijal scored 44-ball 31 but that was not enough for them to avert the defeat.

Simran Rai struck four boundaries in his 21-ball 27.

Farwest skipper Suwash Ayer returned with the figures of 4-22, while Govind Bist, Sandesh Bhatta, Sachin Badayak and Barline Giri took one wicket each.

In another semi-final match, Province-2 registered a four-wicket victory over Province-3. Batting first, Province-3 scored 121-9 in 30 overs before Province-2 raced to 125-6 with 30 balls to spare.

Aaish Bhattarai and Prashant Mahat were the only two batsmen who scored in 20s for Province-3. Bhattarai scored 27 off 45 balls hitting two fours, while Mahat also struck two boundaries in his 37-ball 22. Tilak Bhandari (14), Bipin Bikram Shahi (13) and Krish Karki (11) got good starts but they also failed to convert them into big knocks.

Sheikh Imran (2-19) and Arabaj Ansari (2-20) shared four wickets between them, while B Patel and Nikhil Singh grabbed one wicket each for Province-2.

In reply, Meghraj Mahora scored an unbeaten 47 off 64 balls hitting five boundaries to guide Province-2 to victory. Skipper Nikhil Singh struck two each fours and sixes in his 33-ball 32, while opener Rohan BK scored a quick fire 21 off 12 balls.

Mahora was named the man of the match. Tilak Bhandari and Krish Karki took two wickets each for Province-3, while Deepak Bohara grabbed one. The final is slated for Tuesday.