Baluwatar Cricket Club registered their second consecutive victory as Royal PC Fighter opened their account in the Khukuri Challenger Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Mulpani Cricket Ground on Saturday. 

Baluwatar, studded with few big names from domestic cricket, had to struggle against IOE Pulchowk in chase of a low total before winning the game by one wicket. In the second Group ‘B’ game, PC Fighter hammered Lord Buddha Cricket Club (LBCC) by eight wickets in their first match of the tournament. 

National team’s unpredictable all rounder Mehboob Alam set the tone for PC Fighter after the man-of-the-match picked up four wickets as LBCC were squeezed out to 66 in 13.4 overs. Opener Rabin Joshi did the rest as PC Fighter reached 68-2 in 8.5 overs. Joshi and Dipesh Khatri (nine) gave a flying start adding 47 runs for the first wicket. 

PC Fighter then lost Khatri and Subash Khakurel (two) in a space of three runs but the total was too low for LBCC to defend. Joshi made 43 off 29 balls with nine boundaries. Sandeep Sunar was unbeaten on seven. 

Alam had wreaked havoc in LBCC middle order returning the figures of 4-11 from four overs and was ably supported by Khatri who took 3-9 from his four-over spell. Shamsher Chand also took two wickets for PC Fighter. Anup Shrestha (13) and Prabendra Rajbhandi (10) were the only LBCC batsmen to cross double digits. 

Later in the day, Pulchowk were a victim of terrible mix-up as five of their  batsmen were run out before the team was eventually bowled out for just 86 in 19.5 overs. Their bowlers did pull out the best but cannot stop Baluwatar from reaching 87-9 in the last ball of the game.

Baluwatar had settled names of domestic cricket in Pranit Thapa Magar, Sonu Tamang, Prithu Baskota, Krishna Karki and Ritesh Singh but that hardly mattered for Pulchowk as all of them were out cheaply. Amar Singh Routela top scored for them with 23 off 22 with three boundaries and a six. No 9 batsman Kshitiz Singh (13 not out) held his nerve to guide the team to victory. 

Suyash Aryal took 3-17, while Chiranjibi Pandey (2-10) and Nawaraj Neupane (2-13) shared four wickets between them. Earlier, opener Aman Nath Mandal posted a match-high 30 off 34 deliveries hitting five boundaries for Pulchowk. Pandey (10) and Dinesh Thagunna (10) reached double figures. Man-of-the-match Kshitiz took two wickets for Baluwatar who now have six points from two matches.