Kathmandu, March 5

Nepal Police Club (NPC) won the title of the first Ruslan Cup Cricket Tournament with a three-wicket victory over Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) here on Saturday.

Batting first, TAC made 130-9 in 20 overs before NPC raced to 133-7 with four balls to spare in the final match at the TU Stadium. TAC made a decent start as Sagar Pun and Anil Mandal shared 45 runs for the first wicket. Pun (nine) was the first batsman to be dismissed, while Mandal made 32 off 40 balls.

Sharad Vesawakar scored a quick fire 23 off 12 with one four and a six, while Sompal Kami scored 20 off 10 balls that included two sixes. Dipendra Singh Airee claimed four wickets, while Manjeet Shrestha grabbed two wickets. Sunil Dhamala and Prem Tamang took a wicket apiece for NPC.

In reply NPC made a disastrous start as they lost opener Shankar Rana (eight) with 15 runs on the board. Another opener Sunil Dhamala and Amit Shrestha added 26 runs for the second wicket. After Dhamala was dismissed for 10 runs, NPC lost quick wickets to be 73-7. But Siddhant Lohani guided the team to victory with an unbeaten 47 off just 20 balls. His fiery knock included a four and five sixes. Lohani hit three sixes off Sompal Kami and two off Sagar Pun to seal the victory. Yogendra Singh Karki remained unbeaten on 15 off 10 balls with three fours. Chandra Sawad claimed three wickets, while Bikram Sob, Sagar Pun and Sompal Kami grabbed a wicket apiece for TAC.

With the win, NPC bagged Rs 200,000, while TAC received Rs 100,000. NPC also dominated the individual awards with skipper Manjeet Shrestha and Sunil Dhamala receiving the best bowler and batsman trophies respectively. They earned Rs 8,000 each. Siddhant Lohani received the most sixes award, while Binod Bhandari bagged the Babal Catch award. Subash Khakurel of APF received the fastest fifty award, while Sagar Pun (TAC) was declared the player of the tournament and received Rs 10,000.