Sports
Anirudra, New Horizon set championship showdown
Anirudra Higher Secondary School and New Horizon of Rupandehi set the title clash of the Expert School Cricket League Championship here on Wednesday.Madhav Dhungana
Anirudra Higher Secondary School and New Horizon of Rupandehi set the title clash of the Expert School Cricket League Championship here on Wednesday.
In the semi-finals, Anirudra defeated Valmiki Shiksha Sadan of Chitwan by four wickets and New Horizon crushed Rajan Memorial School of Kathmandu by a huge margin of 104 runs riding on a back of a century from Kushal Malla and a hat-trick from Prakash Giri.
New Horizon lost their first three wickets for just 30 runs but Malla shared a third wicket partnership of 140 runs with Bishal Bhandari to lead New Horizon to a big total. Malla smashed 104 from 59 balls with nine boundaries and four sixes. Bhandari made 48 from 34 balls with six fours and a six. Sandesh Dahal took two wickets for the
losing side.
With a mammoth runs to chase, Rajan Memorial were never in contention once they began losing wickets at regular intervals and were shut down for just 71 runs in 15.3 overs. Giri wreaked havoc with the ball with figures of 5-8 from four overs including the only hat-trick of the tournament so far.
Sandesh Pandey and Prashant Sharma also took two wickets each for New Horizon. Susan Karki was the only Rajan Memorial batsman to make runs in double figures making 28 from 13 balls with three fours and one hit over the fence. Malla was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
In the early game, Anirudra bundled out Valmiki for 107 runs in 19.2 overs before reaching 111-6 in 16.3 overs. Man-of-the-match Paras KC shaped the team’s victory with an unbeaten 39 off 28 balls with three fours and a six. Roshan Saud (17) and Tilak Bhatta (12) also made runs in double figures. Samir Adhikari and Sulav Baral took two wickets each for Valmiki.
Earlier, opener Sujan Chapagain top scored for Valmiki with 25 runs from 26 balls with two hits to the fence. Rabindra Timalsina (18) and Dipesh Mulmi (12) were other batsmen to cross double figures. Roshan Saud and Paras Chhetri took three wickets each for Anirudra.
The final is scheduled for Thursday where the champions will collect Rs 100,000.
The tournament is participated in by teams from Rupandehi, Chitwan, Tanahu, Kathmandu, Kailali and Kanchanpur who were the winners of the league stages in their respective districts.