Kathmandu, April 1:

Star-studded Kathmandu continued their dominance in the Springwood Senior One-day Regional Selection Cricket Tournament with yet another stunning 153-run mauling of Bhaktapur today.

Kathmandu, who boast five top-class Nepali internationals in Paresh Lohani, Sarad Vesawkar, Paras Khadka, Dipendra Chaudhary and Raju Basnyat, scored a mammoth 232-6 in 25 overs. In reply, Bhaktapur managed only 79 in 24.1 overs. The fact that the stars were pushed down the order for the second match in a row exhibits the strength of the team. They beat Tribhuvan University (TU) by nine wickets on Tuesday.

After opener Deepak Malla scored an explosive 71 off 53 balls with nine fours and two sixes, Vesawkar stole the limelight despite batting at No 8. Vesawkar, who remained unbeaten on 70, struck six sixes and five fours in a fiery 29-ball knock. Kathmandu even did not require the services of prolific batsmen Paras and Dipendra after Paresh (one), batting at unusual No 7 position, failed to impress. Taison Silpakar took 2-51 in four overs while Uttam Karki claimed 2-29.

Rabin Joshi top scored with 26 runs as no other Bhaktapur batsmen reached the double figures. Sunam Gautam took three wickets (3-8) while Raju Basnyat (2-12) and Kushal Ghale (2-14) two wickets each for Kathmandu.

In another match, Nuwakot defeated TU by two runs. Nuwakot made 117 in 36.3 overs and restricted TU to 115 in 38.3 overs. Rikesh Lama scored 30 and Ritesh Singh chipped in with 29 runs for Nuwakot. Bam Bahadur Ban was the pick of the TU bowlers with 4-20.

In reply, TU fell three runs short of victory despite good effort at the top from Dhan Bahadur Chhetri (22) and Karan Ghimire (25). Ritesh Singh (3-20) and Rom Shrestha (3-17) bagged three wickets each for Nuwakot.

Lalitpur lead the league standings with nine points from three matches while Kathmandu are second with six points from two matches. Nuwakot are next with six points from three matches.