Tribhuvan Army Club and Rupandehi XI set the title clash of the Karnali Premier League at the Surkhet Stadium on Friday.

In the semi-final matches, Rupandehi defeated Mid-western Region by 26 runs and the Armymen ousted Dhangadhi Cricket Academy (DCA) by eight wickets. In a one-sided second semi-final match, TAC restricted DCA to 131-8 in 20 overs before an aggressive half century from Naresh Budhayer guided them to 132-2 in just 16.5 overs.

Man-of-the-match Naresh struck six boundaries and four sixes in his 38-ball 63 not out, while Raju Rijal made 28 unbeaten runs. Sagar Pun (14) and Anil Mandal (13) also contributed runs in double figures for the winning side.

Skipper Bhuwan Karki had bailed out DCA from trouble smashing a 32-ball 44 not out with four boundaries and two sixes. Sanju Damai (23), Dipendra Thapa (21) and Roman Bam (16) were other notable scorers for the DCA. Chandra Saud and Sagar snared two wickets each

for the Army team.

In the first semi-final, Rupandehi made a challenging 172-7 in 20 overs after man-of-the-match Sandeep Sunar struck a half century. Mid West were bowled out  for 146 in 19.5 overs.  Sandeep hit seven fours and two sixes in his 30-ball 50. Bashir Ahmed lifted the run rate smashing a 14-ball 46 with five sixes.

Shankar Rana also chipped in 35, while Nischal Chaudhary contributed 22 runs to the total. Skipper Subhendu Pandey was the lone fighter for Midwest scoring 46 runs. Pranit Thapa Magar (20) and Siddhant Raj Shahi (19) were remaining batsmen to make runs in double figures.

Allrounder Sandeep and Bikash Shrestha took three wickets each, while Bikram Kumar Bhushal also took two wickets for Rupandehi. The final match is slated for Saturday.