Kathmandu, October 2:

Region No 3 (Kathmandu) thrashed defending champions Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) by eight wickets and entered the Wai Wai Under-19 National Cricket Tournament semi-finals as the winners from Group A. Kathmandu won both the matches, while Bhairahawa won one in the three-team group also including Nepalgunj, who lost both matches and were eliminated from the tournament.

Batting first after skipper Antim Thapa won the toss at TU Stadium, Bhairahawa — who beat Nepalgunj by 96 runs on Saturday — were bowled out for a paltry 90 runs. Only three batsmen — Akash Gupta (18), Nirmal Simangaida (15) and Bijay Thapa (15) — reached the double figure mark. For Kathmandu, Bantu Bataju took 3-14 off seven overs, while Raj Shrestha claimed 3-12 in his 4.1-over spell. Paras Khadka pocketed two and Prakash Thapa and Sharad Vesawkar got one wicket each. In reply, opener Dipen Shrestha scored an unbeaten 38 as Kathmandu overcame the target losing two wickets in 28.4 overs. Shrestha hit two fours in his 90-ball innings. Other opener Sujin Adhikari scored 10 off 23 balls before being bowled by Lal Bahadur Adhikari.

Sharad Vesawkar hit two fours and a six in his 20-ball 16, before being caught by Lal Bahadur off the bowling of Sagar Khadka. Gyanendra Malla remained unbeaten on 22 off 39 balls including a boundary. Bantu Bataju of Kathmandu was declared the man of the match. CAN treasurer Pradeep Karki gave away the award.