Rabin Giri

Dharan, March 25:

Yeti Airlines beat Eastern Academy of Biratnagar by two wickets and entered the final of the first Darshan Memorial Running Cup Cricket Tournament, which has been organised by Darshan Memorial Trust, here today. Batting first after winning the toss at BP Koirala Memorial Institute of Health Sciences ground, Eastern Academy were bowled out for 112 runs in 33.3 overs. The Biratnagar team started badly when Avay Rana bowled out opener Yeshwant Subedi in the second over. Eastern Academy came under more pressure after Ajay Rajbansi (2) and captain Unil Shrestha (3) were dismissed cheaply. Puspa Thapa held some nerves and scored 31 runs which including three fours and a six.

Others who reached the double figure mark were Anish Aryal (11), Sabin Shrestha (16) and Dilip Sharma (15). Kalam Ali claimed the last three wickets, while Raju Basnet and Avay Rana took two wickets each for Yeti Airlines. Mehboob Alam and Dipendra Chaudhary pocketed one wicket apiece. In reply, Yeti Airlines overcame the target losing eight wickets with two balls to spare in the 40-over-a-side match. Despite having the not-so-stiff target, Yeti Airlines also could not register a thumping victory as expected. Mehboob Alam, who scored a half century on Wednesday and a century on Thursday, failed to keep the tempo going and was out for just 10 runs. Alam, who got two lives, was caught by Santosh Baral off the bowling of Manjeet Shrestha.

Skipper Dipendra Chaudhary then lifted the team with a patient 39 off 77 balls. With just one run needed to win the match, Chaudhary was caught by Yeshwant Subedi off the bowling of Nirmal Chhetry. In between, Raju Basnet scored 17 runs and Paresh Lohani added 11 runs.

For Eastern Academy, Manjeet Shrestha and Santosh Baral took two wickets each, while Puspa Thapa, Dilip Sharma and Nirmal Chhetry claimed one each. On Saturday, Dharan Cricket Club will take on Pokhara Cricket Club in the other semi-final match at the same venue. Dharan had topped Group A, while Pokhara entered the last four as Group B runners-up.