Kathmandu, June 8

Nepal Police Club defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by four wickets to win the Expert Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Batting first, TAC were bowled out for a paltry 125 runs in 33.3 overs before NPC reached 126-6 with 57 balls to spare. NPC opener Sunil Dhamala carried the bat scoring an unbeaten 42 off 131 balls hitting two fours.

Dhamala also shared a couple of crucial partnerships to lead the team to victory.

After losing Anil Kumar Sah (two) with just two runs on the board, Dhamala and Amit Shrestha added 52 runs for the second wicket. Shrestha struck six boundaries and two sixes in his 40-ball 40. But he did not last long after the lunch interval and handed a simple catch to Sompal Kami off Shahab Alam.

NPC received a twin blow and were reduced to 76-4 when Aarif Sheikh (six) and Pawan Sarraf (one) were dismissed in the space of one run, while Dipendra Singh Airee (seven) and Kushal Bhurtel (six) also fell cheaply.

Dhamala then combined with skipper Manjeet Shrestha to take the team home adding 24 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket. Shrestha remained unbeaten on 11 off 19 balls hitting a four.

Karan KC was the pick of the TAC bowlers taking 3-35, while Shahab Alam claimed 2-25. Susan Bhari also grabbed a wicket.

Earlier, TAC squandered an opportunity to post a challenging total and  the innings folded cheaply. Openers Raju Rijal and Sompal Kami put 72 runs inside 16 overs before TAC lost all 10 wickets for just 53 runs. Kami top scored with 35 off 40 balls hitting three fours and two sixes, while Rijal struck five fours in his 60-ball 32.

Bhim Sarki contributed 20 off 29 balls with the help of three boundaries, while Rohit Kumar Paudel scored 18 off 23 that included two fours and a six. Pawan Sarraf dismissed TAC skipper Binod Bhandari and Kushal Malla in successive balls of 29th over but Karan KC survived the hat-trick ball.

Sarraf returned with the figures of 4-12 from seven overs, while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi took 4-36 from 9.3 overs. Sagar Dhakal also grabbed a wicket. Man-of-the-match Rajbanshi also won the best bowler and player of the series awards. TAC’s Raju Rijal bagged the best batsman’s award.

Champions NPC received two million rupees along with the trophy, while TAC got one million rupees. Rajbanshi earned a total of Rs 80,000 for the two awards. The organisers, National Sports Council had announced motorcycle for the player of the series and Rs 50,000 each to best batsman and bowler but the sports governing body removed the two-wheeler and reduced the amount of other awards.

Youth and Sports Minister Jagat Bahadur Sunar and NSC Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista among others handed over the prizes to the winners of the tournament.