KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 1
Lumbini Province recorded fourth win to keep their final hopes alive, while Gandaki tasted victory in the Wai Wai Under-19 National Cricket Tournament here today.
Lumbini defeated Province-I by six wickets to stay in contention for the final. They accumulated eight points from five matches and are at the third position behind Bagmati on inferior net run rate. With one match remaining to play, unbeaten Sudurpashchim Province are at the top of the seven-team table with 10 points. Other four teams - Province-I (four), Gandaki (two), Karnali (two) and Madhesh (zero) - are already out of the race.
At the TU Stadium, already-eliminated Province-I were bowled out for a paltry 69 runs in 25.2 overs before Lumbini reached 73-4 with 2-4 balls to spare.
Chasing a low total, openers Aakash Tripathi and Dev Khanal put up 40 runs in 10 overs before Lumbini lost three wickets in the space of two runs and they were further reduced to 59-4 inside 15 overs. Sunil Bhandari (six) and Vishal Bhusal (eight) completed the formality adding 14 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket.
Khanal top scored with 39-ball 19, while Tripathi scored 17 off 33 balls. Both batters hit two fours each. Dipesh Kandel took 3-19 for Province-I and Bipin Mahato bagged one wicket.
Earlier, Suvan Gahatraj and Estain Rijal were the only two Province-I batters who scored in double figures. Gahatraj hit three fours in his run-a-ball 22, while Rijal scored 19 off 68 balls that included two boundaries.
Player-of-the-match Nirmal Gurung completed five wicket haul taking 5-4 from 4.2 overs, while Durgesh Gupta grabbed 2-21 for Lumbini. Avishek Gautam and Tul Bahadur Thapa bagged one wicket each.
At Mulpani, Gandaki hammered Karnali by 109 runs, Batting first, Gandaki posted 234-7 in their allotted 50 overs before packing Karnali for 125 runs in 30 overs. Openers Govind BK and Arjun Kumal set the foundation fr Gandaki putting up 95 runs inside 26 overs. BK hit seven boundaries and a six in his 55 off 87 balls, while Kumal scored 106-ball 50 that included three fours.
Deepak Dumre struck four boundaries and two sixes in his quick fire 44 off 27 balls, while Cibrin Shrestha scored 26 hitting three fours. Skipper Subash Bhandari remained unbeaten on 21 off 17 balls. Aawash Shah took 3-70 for Karnali, while Mohan BK grabbed two and Binit Khatri bagged one wicket.
In reply, Karnali batters failed to build partnerships. Suwash Ayer was the top scorer with 32 off 36 balls that included five boundaries, while skipper Bipin Rawal (19), Manish Thapa (18) and Yunish Singh (12) were the other batters to reach double-figure mark.
Player-of-the-match Subash Bhandari completed five-wicket haul claiming 6-27 from 10 overs and the skipper was ably supported by Cibrin Shrestha (3-15).
Nirtesh Giri also bagged a wicket for Gandaki.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
