Title contenders Nepal Police Club (NPC) eased to a seven-wicket victory over Far-western Region in their first Group ‘B’ match of the Prime Minister Cup cricket tournament at the TU grounds on Wednesday.

Electing to field first, left-arm spinner Sushil Kandel destroyed the middle order to bundle out Farwest for just 170 runs in 48.4 overs. NPC lost their opener Shankar Rana (0) with just seven runs on the board but a century partnership between Amit Shrestha and Dilip Nath led them to 172-3 in 24.3 overs. 

Shrestha did the bulk of scoring in his 128-run stand for the second wicket with Nath contributing 75 from 63 balls with eight fours and three sixes. In a hurry to finish the game early, Shrestha handed a simple catch to Kiran Thagunna at mid-on off Bhim Sarki. NPC then lost Nath, bowled by Bikash Agri, after making 40 from 50 balls with four boundaries and a six. Dipendra Singh Airee sealed the victory, clobbering six boundaries in his unbeaten 19-ball 27. 

NPC skipper Manjeet Shrestha was satisfied with the victory. “We did quite well in all departments. The bowlers did a great job by restricting Farwest to below 200 runs. We have a youthful squad which is eager to perform and if we play with our potential then we can walk away with the title,” said Shrestha. 

Earlier, skipper Surendra Chand (nine) and Roshan Nepali gave Farwest a modest start before the captain was caught behind by Nath off Lalit Singh Bhandari. Farwest then lost Nepali and Anil Kumar Thapa (0) in quick succession to be 38-3 in 11.5 overs. 

Nepali struck 21 off 39 with four boundaries. Gyanendra Kunwar and Bhim Sarki consolidated their innings with a 69-run fourth wicket stand before a direct hit from Kushal Bhurtel halted the Farwest charge. Bhurtel dismissed Sarki with diving throw after the batsman made 28 off 52. Kunwar was next to go for 49 off 88, having hit five fours in his patient innings. Santosh Bhatta was next best scorer for Farwest scoring 25 off 35 with a six. Man-of-the-match Kandel returned with figures of 5-21 from 10 overs with two maiden and Bhandari took 3-25 from 8.4 overs. 

Farwest captain Chand said he knew where it all went wrong for his team. “We were under control after that big partnership between Gyanendra and Bhim but the run out changed the complexion of the game. We managed to put some runs on the board but couldn’t forge big partnerships,” said Chand.

Kandel, the leading wicket-taker and player-of-the-series in the recently concluded Dhangadi Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament for Biratnagar Kings, was over the moon with the form that he is playing with. “I know that I have been picking up a lot of wickets off late and it gives even better feeling when your performance shapes up the team’s victory. I hope to continue with this momentum,” said Kandel.

Summary

Nepal Police Club 172-3 in 24.3 overs (A Shrestha 75, D Nath 40; S Bhandari 1-39, B Agri 1-33) beat Far-western Region 170 all out in 48.4 overs (G Kunwar 49, B Sarki 28; S Kandel 5-21, LS Bhandari 3-25) by seven wickets

Man-of-the-match: S Kandel (NPC)