Tribhuvan Army Club joined Karnali XI in the semi-finals of the Karnali Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament with a 107-run drubbing of Midwestern Cricket Club at the Kalinchowk Cricket Grounds in Surkhet on Tuesday.

Army rode on half centuries from Hari Bahadur Chauhan and Rajesh Pulami Magar to compile 178-7 in 20 overs before dismissing  Midwestern Club for 71 runs in 16.4 overs in the Group ‘A’ match. Army lost opener Raju Rijal for a golden duck but Chauhan and Magar played whirlwind knocks to help their team post a daunting total.

Magar slammed 57 and Chauhan scored 53. Man-of-the-match Magar hit five boundaries and three sixes in his 35-ball knock while Chauhan clobbered seven boundaries and a six in his 37-ball innings. Binod Bhandari also chipped in 22 off 20 balls and Rohit Kumar Poudel 19 off 15 balls. Amit Tamang and Ajay Sahani claimed two wickets each for Midwestern Club.

Midwestern meekly surrendered chasing the big total as Pranit Thapa Magar top scored for them with 19 off 18 deliveries. Kushal Malla snared four wickets, while Sahab Alam and Susan Bhari claimed two wicket apiece for the Army team.

In the day’s first match, a scintillating knock from Nishcal Chaudhary steered New Horizon to a five-wicket win over Himalayan Cricket Academy. Batting first, Himalayan Academy were bowled out for 92 runs in 18.2 overs and  New Horizon chased down the total in 14 overs losing five wickets in the  process. The result meant New Horizon and APF are tied on four points from three matches in Group ‘B’. Mahendranagar Cricket Academy have two points. Wednesday’s match between Mahendranagar and APF will decide the semi-finalists from the pool.

Himalayan Academy lost openers Shakti Bhandari (5) and Padam KC (0) cheaply  before batting contributions from Dipendra Airee, Sharad Khadka and Birat  Bhandari helped them pose a reasonable score on the board. Airee top-scored with 24-ball 25 with three hits to the fence, while Khadka  chipped in 15 and Bhandari 13. Arjun Rayamajhi took three while Shakti Gauchan  and Govinda Khatri claimed two wickets each for New Horizon.

New Horizon were in a dire straits at 32-5 before a whirlwind knock  from Chaudhary rescued the team. Chaudhary hit four sixes and three fours  in 29 balls. Pawan Karki claimed three and Hemanta  Dhami took two wickets for Himalayan Academy.