Sports
Baluwatar win to top group
Baluwatar Cricket Club beat Royal PC Fighter by six wickets to top Group ‘B’ in the Khukuri Challenger Twenty20 cricket tournament on Sunday.Baluwatar Cricket Club beat Royal PC Fighter by six wickets to top Group ‘B’ in the Khukuri Challenger Twenty20 cricket tournament on Sunday.
Held at the Mulpani Cricket Grounds, Royal PC scored 158-4 in 20 overs before Baluwatar surpassed the total for the loss of four wickets in 18.2 overs. Already qualified for the quarter-finals from the pool, the result saw Baluwatar finish the Group games unbeaten on 12 points. PC finished second with nine points.
Royal PC skipper Rabin Joshi, opening the bat with Naresh Chand (0), was instrumental in posting a decent total. Joshi scored 64, his 50-ball knock included five boundaries and three sixes.
Sandeep Sunar (32), Subash Khakurel (26) and Prakash Bista (24 not out) all chipped in valuable runs to the total only to see it overhauled.
Sunar struck three fours and two sixes in his 25-ball innings, while Khakurel slammed four fours in his 20-ball stay. Bista’s 10-ball cameo included two fours and a six. Amar Singh Rautela, Kshitiz Singh, Prithu Baskota and Ritesh Singh took one wicket each for Baluwatar.
In reply, Pranit Thapa Magar and Suman Uday (16) eased the chase for Baluwatar with a 52-run stand for the opening wicket.
Thapa Magar top scored with 48, his 35-ball knock included seven fours and a six. Rautela then clobbered three boundaries and two sixes in his fiery 16-ball 30.
Siddhanta Raj Shahi (23) and Sonu Tamang (12) Baluwatar home with more than one over to spare. Dhiraj Shahi claimed two and Puran BK one wicket for Royal PC.
In another inconsequential Group ‘B’ match, Trimurty beat IOE Pulchowk by five wickets in a match where players from both sides struck a century.
Pulchowk scored 170-3 thanks to a century from Gaurav Khadka but Jiban Lamsal single-handedly steered Trimurty to victory with his magnificent century. Khadka (116) clobbered 17 fours and two sixes in his 61-ball unbeaten knock for Pulchowk. Dinesh Kunwar, Dipendra Magar and Ashish Lama took one wicket each.
Trimurty made a worst possible start as their openers were dismissed without contributing a single run.
But Lamsal stepped in and changed the complexion of the game. Lamsal hit 13 fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 78-ball 131.
Ayush Pokhrel, Suyash Aryal, Nawaraj Neupane and Manish Gyawali claimed one wicket each for Pulchowk.