Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Eastern Region made light works of their opponents to record wins in the NSC National Women’s Twenty20 Championship at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on Saturday.

APF cruised to a six-wicket win over Central Region in the Group ‘A’ game, while Eastern Region hammered Western Region by nine wickets in Group ‘B’. Electing to bat first in the rain-curtailed 16-over match, Central Region could only post 39-8 ,with only skipper Sobha Ale (12) and Sarada Wagle (10) able to score in double figures. Player-of-the-match Sarita Magar, Neera Rajopadhaya and Karuna Bhandari took wickets each for APF. Despite chasing a small total, APF lost four wickets before Binu Budha Magar (9) and Ritu Kanojiya (8) steer the departmental team safely home in 8.1 overs.

In the day’s second game, Western Region were dismissed for 38 runs in 18.2 overs and Eastern Region raced to victory, scoring 39-1 in eight overs. Opener Barsha Rana top scored with 16 and Saraswati Pun made 11 runs for Western Region. Player-of-the-match Santoshi chaudhary was pick of the Eastern Region bowlers with 4-4 off three overs, while Rubina Chhetri and Kabita Gautam snared two wickets each. In reply, Eastern Region lost opener Anuradha Chaudhary (2) cheaply but Kajol Shrestha (21) and Rashmi Sharma (13) completed the chase with 12 overs to spare. Seema Thapa took the only Eastern Region wicket to fall.

The tournament features five regional teams and APF Club vying for the Rs 100,000 top prize. The runner-up will walk away with Rs 50,000. The teams have been divided into two pools of three with top team from each group after league stages to play for the championship. The six-team tournament will serve as the basis for the team selection for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier-Asia, to be held in Mong Kok, Hong Kong on October 9-15. Apart from hosts Hong Kong and Nepal, China and Thailand are the two other teams vying for one berth available for Asia in the global qualifying tournament.