KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 3
Nepal Police Club registered their third straight victory, while Madhesh Province made winning start in the Prime Minister's Cup National Cricket Tournament here today.
Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee scored an unbeaten 43 and took four wickets as NPC hammered Lumbini Province by six wickets at the TU Stadium. Bating first, Lumbini were bowled out for 188 runs in 44.2 overs before the departmental team reached 192-4 with 77 balls to spare.
Chasing a modest target, NPC openers Sunil Dhamala and Kushal Bhurtel made a flying start putting up 55 runs in six overs. After the fall of Dhamala, who scored 36 off 22 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes, Bhurtel and Amit Shrestha added 48 runs for the second wicket, before they were dismissed in the space of 11 runs.
Bhurtel hit two fours in his 41-ball 32, while Shrestha scored 28 off 35 balls that included five hits to the fence.
Airee and Aarif Sheikh them took the team closer to victory sharing a 66-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Sheikh hit five fours in his 51-ball 43. Airee and Dilip Nath (six) took the team home without further loss.
Player-of-the-match Airee struck five boundaries in his unbeaten 43 off 66 balls. Anil Kharel took two wickets for Lumbini, while Mohammad Husen and Durgesh Gupta bagged one each.
Earlier, skipper Dev Khanal scored a brilliant half century but his efforts went in vain. Lumbini lost opener Aakash Tripathi for a duck in the fifth ball of the match before Khanal and Prajjwol Thapa added 60 runs for the second wicket. Khanal and Bishal Bikram KC shared a 57-run partnership for the fourth wicket but the middle and lower order failed to deliver as they lost the last six wickets for 26 runs.
Khanal top scored with 75 off 88 balls with the help of seven boundaries and two sixes, while KC was the next best at 38-ball 30 that included three fours and a six.
Thapa scored 23, while Durgesh Gupta and Mohammad Husen contributed 11 each.
NPC skipper Airee returned to take 4-55 from 10 overs, while Karan KC and Sagar Dhakal grabbed two wickets each. Gulsan Jha and Lalit Rajbanshi bagged one wicket apiece.
At the Mulpani grounds, Madhesh Province defeated Province-I by 72 runs. Batting first, Madhesh were bowled out for 214 runs in 48.1 overs before packing Province-I for 142 runs with 41 balls to spare.
Madhesh made a poor start losing opener Santosh Karki for a duck in the first over before they lost skipper Harishankar Shah (15) and Imran Sheikh (six) in the space of one ball to be reduced to 30-3. Anil Sah and Rohan BK revived the innings sharing a 68-run partnership for the fourth wicket, while Sah and Bibek Yadav added 41 runs for the fifth wicket.
Player-of-the-match Sah top scored with 61 off 89 balls that included five fours and a six, while Yadav hit two boundaries and a six in his 54-ball 32. BK scored 28 off 49 balls with the help of four boundaries. Batting at No nine, Rupesh Singh scored a quick fire 30 off 25 balls that included three sixes.
Firdosh Ansari completed a five-wicket haul taking 5-34 for Province-I, while Siddhant Lohani grabbed 3-44. Sarwan Yadav and Luv Kamat bagged one wicket each.
In reply, Province-I lost wickets at regular interval before being folded cheaply.
Luv Kamat was the top scorer at 29, while Bibek Anand Mehta was the next best at 25 and Firdosh Ansari contributed 22. Mohammad Aadil Alam, Rupesh Singh, Pradip Paswan and Bishal Shusling grabbed two wickets each for Madhesh, while Rajesh Yadav bagged one.
After the day's results, NPC remained at the top in Group B with six points, while Madhesh, Lumbini and Province-I have two each. Bagmati are at the bottom after losing all three matches. In Group A, table-toppers Nepal APF Club and Gandaki Province are tied on four points each, while Karnali, Tribhuvan Army Club and Sudurpashchim are yet to open their accounts.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 4, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
