Departmental teams Nepal Police Club (NPC) and Tribhuwan Army Club (TAC)  eased to the quarter-finals of the Ruslan Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament  at the TU grounds of Tuesday.

NPC hammered Himalayan Cricket Academy (HCA) by 81 runs in Group ‘A’, while  TAC saw off New Rising Star by nine wickets in Group ‘B’.

Opener Sunil Dhamala and Kushal Bhurtel shone with the bat as NPC posted  183-6 before dismissing HCA for 102 runs in 19.4 overs. Dhamala played a  pivotal role in NPC batting, scoring 56-ball 54 with three fours and two  sixes. Bhurtel remained unbeaten on 33, his fiery 11-ball cameo included  three sixes and as many fours. Man-of-the-match Dhamala’s opening partner  Dilip Nath also contributed 25-ball 26 with three hits to the fence and a  maximum. Kamal Airee, Prakash Bist, Avinash Adhikari, Arun Airee and Pawan  Karki took one wicket each for HCA.

In reply, opener Bhupendra Thapa fought a lonely battle for HCA scoring an  explosive half century. But his effort went all in vain in the absence of  support from the other end. Opener Thapa was the ninth HCA batsman to be  out after scoring 73 runs. He struck eight boundaries and three sixes in  his 59-ball knock. None of the other HCA batsmen were able to score in  double figures. Aarif Sheikh and Prem Tamang took three wickets each, while  Dipendra Singh Airee claimed two for NPC.

In the day’s another match, New Rising Star were bundled out for a paltry  87 runs in 18.3 overs after electing to bat first. The Army team surpassed  the total making 90-1 in just 11.1 overs.

Sushan Singh Thapa and Rabindra Jung Shahi top scored for Rising Star with 18 runs each, while Rabin Thapa was their next best contributor with 14 runs. Jitendra Mukhiya was the pick of the TAC bowlers with figures of 4-17, while man-of-the-match Sagar Pun claimed 3-24.

Pun returned to score unbeaten 39 runs to steer the Army team home with almost nine overs to spare. Pun struck five boundaries and a six in his 28-ball knock, while Naresh Budhayer remained unbeaten on 18. Budhayer hit three boundaries in his 16-ball innings. Mahesh Chhetri was the only TAC wicket to fall after scoring 24 from 23 deliveries.

In all 16 teams are taking part in the tournament that offers Rs 300,000 for the champions and Rs200,000 for the runners-up. Teams making it to the quarter-finals will also receive a winning bonus of Rs 5,000 each, while the losing semi-finalists will get Rs 25,000 each. Man-of-the-series will get return tickets to Bangkok from Thai Airways. KCTC is a cricket academy run by national team vice-captain Gyanendra Malla.

Khahari Cricket Club will take on Royal PC Fighter and KCTC will meet Cannon Cricket Club on Wednesday.