Kathmandu, February 28

Himalayan Cricket Academy (HCA) and Nepal APF Club registered victories in the first Ruslan Cup Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Himalayan defeated Lord Buddha Cricket Club by 54 runs, while APF beat Institute of Engineering (IoE) by 32 runs. In the first match of the day, Himalayan were bowled out for 154 in 19.4 overs after they elected to bat first, while Lord Buddha made 100-7 in 20 overs.

Amar Singh Rautela top scored for Himalayan with 24 off 16 balls with four boundaries, while Bhupendra Thapa (22), Abinash Adhikari (22), Shakti Bhandari (20) and Dinesh Agri (14) made contributions with the bat.

For Lord Buddha, Prasoon Thapa and Datendra Joshi claimed three wickets

each, while Abhises Thapa took two wickets, Sushan Shrestha and Manish Shrivastav grabbed a wicket apiece.

In reply, openers Samyog Dahal and Sujan Thapaliya made a flying run chase for Lord Buddha adding 42 runs. Thapaliya top scored for the team with 35 off 43 balls that included three fours and a six, while Dahal scored 18 off 32 balls with three fours.

Apart from these two batsmen others failed to reach double-figure mark. Ashish Pokhrel and Sher Singh Khatri claimed two wickets each for Himalayan, while Dinesh Agri and Abinash Adhikari grabbed a wicket apiece.

In another match, APF elected to bat and scored 129-4 in 20 overs before

restricting IoE for 97-6 in 20 overs. Pradeep Airee top scored for APF with run-a-ball 46 that included five fours, while U-19 team vice-captain Aarif Sheikh remained unbeaten on 34 off 19 balls with three fours

and a six and Subash Khakurel made 21 off 41 balls. Sumant Sah claimed two wickets, while Sumit Jha took one for IoE.

In reply, IoE opener Gaurav Khadka scored a half century but he failed to avert team’s loss as he did not receive support from other batsmen. Khadka scored 55 off 63 deliveries with eight fours. Basant Regmi was the pick of the APF bowlers claiming three wickets, while Aarif Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane and Shankar Rawal grabbed a wicket apiece.