Kathmandu, May 26

The organisers of the Expert Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament, the National Sports Council came under fire after it inaugurated the Mulpani cricket grounds with a match between Nepal Police Club and Karnali Province on a matting wicket.

After postponing the tournament three times after it failed to prepare the grounds for the event, the NSC conducted the match on a matting wicket. The NSC had announced to inaugurate the grounds on March 24 before postponing the date citing technical reasons. Two days later, the NSC inaugurated the grounds with a match on matting wicket.

NSC Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista said he got misled by the technical committee.

“The technical committee had assured us of getting the grounds ready by today and we rescheduled the match accordingly. But they were unable to prepare the grounds on time and we decided to continue as we wanted to give a positive message to the cricketing fraternity,” said Bista.

NPC coach and former national team wicketkeeper Manoj Katuwal was shocked with the preparation. “We used to play under such conditions in our time and I am sad that the national team players of an ODI nation are forced to play in matting wicket,” said Katuwal. “It’s unfortunate that we are playing in such condition,” he added.

NPC skipper Manjeet Shrestha said the players had no option to play. “The players deserve better facilities especially after participating in World Cup and becoming an ODI nation. But we are forced to play the national tournament in a ground which is not fit for any event,” he added.

Subash Pradhan, Chairman of Nepalaya International — the event management company of the tournament — said they pushed for an alternate venue to conduct the tournament smoothly. “The technical committee had said that the ground and pitch would be ready for the tournament but they failed to meet the deadline,” said Pradhan.

“Matting wicket is not a problem as it is used in big events in other countries also. I won’t say the ground is completely fit but on a positive note we were able to organise match here,” he added.

In a low-scoring match which was reduced to 49-overa-side due to the delayed start, NPC defeated Karnali by 94 runs. NPC were bowled out for 185 runs in 41 overs and packed Karnali for 91 runs in 27 overs.

NPC recovered from a precarious position of 22-5 to post the fighting total, thanks to 139-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Dilip Nath and Kushal Bhurtel. After Bhurtel was dismissed for 77-ball 62 that included six fours and a six, NPC lost last four wickets for 18 runs.

Man-of-the-match Nath struck five boundaries and a six in his 84-ball 72.

Sudan Pokhrel was the pick of the Karnali bowlers taking 5-16 from seven overs, while Diwan Pun claimed 2-43.

Dinesh Adhikari and skipper Rabindra Jung Shahi grabbed one wicket each.

In reply, Karnali were never in contention after losing skipper and opener Shahi with just 27 runs on the board. It became 42-4 as three Karnali batsmen were dismissed in the space of 19 balls. Sushant Singh Thapa top scored for Karnali with 30-ball 29 that included five boundaries, while Mahesh Khatri (17) and Dinesh Adhikari (16) were the other two batsmen who scored in double figures.

Aarif Sheikh returned with the figures of 4-20 for TAC, while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi claimed 3-7 from three overs.

Sagar Dhakal, Pawan Sarraf and Dipendra Singh Airee grabbed one wicket each for the departmental team.

Army triumph

At the TU Stadium, Tribhuvan Army Club thrashed Province-1 by 113 runs to register their second straight victory.

Batting first, TAC were bowled out for 204 runs in 45.3 overs before the departmental side packed Province-1 for a paltry 91 runs in 26.5 oves.

Man-of-the-match Rajesh Pulami Magar top scored for TAC with 56 off 93 balls that included four boundaries, while Hari Bahadur Chauhan struck four fours and a six in his 51- ball 41. Skipper Binod Bhandari scored 30 off 34 balls hitting four fours and a six, while Karan KC struck a four and two sixes in his 30-ball 26.

Kushal Malla contributed 16 off 18 balls hitting two sixes.

Dipesh Kandel took 3-34 for Province-1, while Mukund Yadav, Siddhant Lohani and Firdosh Ansari grabbed two wickets each. Pushpa Thapa pocketed one wicket.

Chasing a modest target, Province-1 batsmen failed to build partnership and they were all out cheaply. Rajan Magar top scored for the team with 26 off 23 balls that included three fours and a six, while Mukund Yadav (18) and opener Ravi Roy (10) were the other batsmen who contributed in double figures.

Susan Bhari — who took a hat-trick to end the innings with last three wickets in the 27th over — was the pick of the TAC bowlers taking 3-5 from 5.5 overs, while Karan KC claimed 2-19. Jitendra Singh Mukhiya, Hari Chauhan and Shahab Alam grabbed one wicket each.