Kathmandu, March 4

Nepal Police Club stunned Nepal APF Club to set championship date with Tribhuvan Army Club in the first Ruslan Cup Cricket Tournament here today.

NPC defeated APF by five wickets, while TAC hammered New Horizon Cricket Club by eight wickets in the semi-final matches at the Tribhuvan University Stadium in Kirtipur.

Batting first after NPC elected to field first, Nepal APF Club scored 122-8 in 20 overs before the Policemen reached 123-5 with seven balls to spare. APF made decent start with openers Paresh Lohani and Subash Khakurel adding 42 runs before the former was out for eight runs.

Khakurel then added another 49 runs with Pradeep Airee (25) to take the scores towards three figures. But once Khakurel and Airee were dismissed in the space of two runs, APF lost five wickets for 29 runs.

Khakurel scored a quick fire 54 off 43 balls that included six fours and a six, while skipper Gyanendra Malla struck two fours in his 12-ball 16. Man-of-the-match Manjeet Shrestha was the pick of the NPC bowlers taking 3-29 from four overs, while Dipendra Airee claimed 2-20 and Lalit Bhandari took one wicket.

In reply, Shankar Rana and Amit Shrestha added 75 runs for the second wicket to ease the run chase after opener Sunil Dhamala was out for 16 runs. Rana scored 36 off 49 balls that included four fours and a six, while Shrestha struck three fours and a six in his 30-ball 34. Skipper Manjeet Shrestha hit a six in his five-ball nine, while Prem Tamang struck a four in his unbeaten seven off four balls. APF spinner Shakti Gauchan returned with 4-13 from four overs but that was not enough for them to avert the defeat.

In the first semi-final match, New Horizon were bowled out for 84 runs before the Armymen raced to 88-2 in 14.5 overs. Opener Sagar Pun scored 26 off 29 balls hitting three boundaries and a six, while Anil Mandal was out for 11. Naresh Budhayer and Binod Bhandari remained unbeaten on 20 and 18 respectively as the duo added 36 runs for the unbroken third-wicket partnership. All four batsmen struck a six each. Dipendra Somare and Rahul Prajapati took a wicket each for New Horizon.

Earlier, Nirmal Thapa top scored for New Horizon with 20 off 31 balls, while Nurdhoj Sen (15) and Sandeep Sunar (18) were the other batsmen to contribute in double figures. Man-of-the-match Sagar Pun was the chief destroyer as he returned with 4-10 from four overs, while Chandra Sawad claimed 3-20. Sompal Kami and Bikram Sob also took one wicket each.