Itahari, January 15
Nepal APF Club and Madhesh Province recorded victories in the PM Cup Women's T20 National Cricket Tournament here at the Janata Cricket Park today.
APF defeated Bagmati Province by 53 runs. Batting first, APF amassed 136-4 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting Bagmati for 83-9. APF openers Jyoti Pandey and skipper Sita Rana Magar put up 54 runs in 8.3 overs before they lost both of them in the space of seven runs. Indu Barma and Rajmati Airee (nine) then added 29 runs for the third wicket before Barma and Nary Thapa shared a 46-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Barma top scored with 27- ball 38 that included three boundaries and a six, while Rana Magar hit five fours in her 29-ball 36. Thapa remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 19 with the help of two boundaries, whereas Pandey contributed 15 off 27 balls. Asmina Karmacharya, Khusi Dangol, Manisha Upadhyay and Sony Pakhrin grabbed one wicket each for Bagmati.
In reply, Bagmati batters failed to build partnerships. Opener Helisha Gurung top scored with 22 off 25 balls hitting three fours, while Sony Pakhrin was the next best at 13. Kanchan Shrestha (11) and skipper Asmina Karmacharya (10) were the others who contributed in double figures. Nisha Bhatt was the pick of the APF bowlers taking 3-11, while player-of-the-match Sita Rana Magar grabbed 2-16 and Rekha Rawal bagged one wicket.
In another match, Madhesh beat Karnali Province by eight wickets. Karnali posted 79-6 in their allotted 20 overs before Madhesh raced to 80-2 with 58 balls to spare. Anuradha Chaudhary and Pratima Sah added 70 runs for unbroken third wicket after Madhesh lost two wickets in the second over.
Bina Thapa (2-28) reduced Madhesh to 10-2 after she bowled Alisha Yadav (two) and Sana Praveen (naught) in two successive balls but Chaudhary and Sah took the team home safely. Chaudhary struck five boundaries in her 35-ball 38 not out, while Sah remained unbeaten on 18 off 24 balls that included a four.
Earlier, Karnali batters struggled with only three players scoring in double digits. Trishna Biswakarma was the top scorer with 15 runs, while opener Kiran Kunwar and Anju Gurung contributed 13 each. Player-of-the-match Bhumi Singh was the pick of the Madhesh bowlers taking 4-19, while Amiran Nisha grabbed 2-10.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 16, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
