Zone 2 Birgunj defeated Zone 5 Nepalgunj by 54 runs at the Birendra Memorial National League Cricket Tournament 2002 being organised here by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) under the sponsorship of Gorkha Brewery Pvt Ltd.

In the second day match held at Tribhuvan University (TU) ground, Birgunj opting to bat first were bowled out for 198 runs in 48.5 overs. Opener Kalamuddin Ansari scored 12 off 26 including a hit to the fence before being dismissed byImtiyaz Siddique in the seventh over, while other opener Sanjay Womjon was caught by Arun off the bowling of Imtiyaz. He scored 14 runs.

Kimon Ojha scored 24 off 37 balls, while Vikas Dali scored 50 off 93 deliveries before being out in the 46th over. Dali hit four boundaries in his 135 minutes stay at the crease.

Jay Prakash Sarraf scored 27 off 42 deliveries including two fours before being caught by Dhirendra off the bowling of Rafique Ansari in 35th over, while Prakash Sharma scored 26 off 30 balls before being bowled by Arvind Karna.

Nepali international Binod Das who was the captain of Under-19 team that finished runner up in plate finals in New Zealand was run out for a duck.

For Nepalgunj, Arvind Karna took three wickets conceding 23 runs in 7.5 overs, while Imtiyaz Siddique and Arun Thapa took two wickets apiece. Imtiyaz conceded 31 runs in 10 overs and Arun gave away 29 runs in eight overs. Meraj Ansari and Rafiq Ansari grabbed one wicket each.

In reply, Zone 5 Nepalgunj failed to overcome the target and were packed off for 144 runs in 45.4 overs. Opener Arun Thapa scored 42 runs off 55 balls including six hits to the fence.

Dhirendra Bahadur scored 34 runs off 31 balls including seven hits to the fence before being trapped lbw by Shyam Thapa, while Khagendra Kunwar, who was caught by Sanjaya Womjon off the bowling of Mosharraf Izhar scored 15 off 25 including a boundary in his 25 minute-stay at the crease. Imtiyaz Siddique remained unbeaten on 11 off 29, while seven batsmen failed to cross double figure.

For Birgunj, Jay Prakash Sarraf took four wickets conceding 33 runs in 10 overs, while Mosharraf Izhar gave away nine runs in two overs to grab two wickets. Binod Das, Rajiv Shrestha, Shyam Thapa and Sanjam Regmi pocketed one wicket apiece.

Jay Prakash Sarraf of the winning team was adjudged the man of the match for his all round performance. In the next match Zone 2 takes on Zone 3 at the same venue.