Sports
APF make short work of Midwest, enter last four
Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club defeated Mid-western Region by five wickets to enter the semi-finals of the Prime Minister Cup One-Day National cricket tournament on Friday.Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club defeated Mid-western Region by five wickets to enter the semi-finals of the Prime Minister Cup One-Day National cricket tournament on Friday.
Electing to field first in the Group ‘A’ match at the TU Stadium, APF restricted Midwest to 181-8 in 50 overs.
The departmental side then rode on a gritty knock from Sandeep Sunar to reach 184-5 in just 28.2 overs for their second consecutive victory. APF currently lead the table on net run-rate after they were tied on four points with Western Region.
Western are already in the semi-finals and have completed all their three league matches, losing one to APF who will play their final group game with Central Region.
Both Central and Midwest are eliminated from the group stage having recorded just one point each.
APF lost their opener Subash Khakurel (12) with just 23 runs on board before Sunar and Aasif Sheikh shared a match-winning 92-run stand for the second wicket to lay the foundation for victory.
Sheikh made 40 from 44 balls with three fours and a six. After Sheikh’s departure, Sunar shared another 32 runs for the third wicket with Anil Sah (nine).
APF then lost Sah and newman Sandeep Jhora (duck) in the space of two runs but by that time the match was already within their grasp.
Sunar was dismissed in the 26th over when APF were just 13 runs away from victory. Prithu Baskota (15 not out) and Pradeep Airee (five not out) completed the chase. Man-of-the-match Sunar scored 87 from 83 balls with seven boundaries and five sixes. Amar Singh Routela and Bijay Chaudhary took two wickets each for Midwest.
Midwest, who didn’t have a good tournament with the bat, finally managed to put some runs on the board after Anupam Singh scored a half century and took his side close to 200-run mark with a 68-run stand for the eighth wicket with Siddhant Raj Shahi.
Midwest lost their openers Prajjwal Shahi (four) and Sushant Thapa (six) to be at 16-2 before Rajbir Singh and skipper Shubhendu Pandey consolidated the innings.
The duo put on 49 runs for the third wicket but were soon reduced to 105-7 in 36 overs. Singh made 37 from 76 balls with three boundaries and Pandey scored 23 off 36 with a six and a four.
From a precarious position, Anupam and Shahi pushed the team towards respectability with their sensible innings. Anupam made 56 off 95 balls with six boundaries and Shahi was unbeaten on 35 from 42 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Bhuwan Karki was the pick of the APF bowlers taking 3-25 from 10 overs. Avinash Bohora took 2-29 from his 10.
Summary
Nepal APF Club 184-5 in 28.2 overs (S Sunar 87, A Sheikh 40; A Routela 2-33, B Chaudhary 2-19) beat Midwest 181-8 in 50 overs (A Singh 56, R Singh 35; B Karki 3-25, A Bohora 2-29) by five wickets
Man-of-the-match: S Sunar (APF)