Sports
Magar steers Army into final
Rajesh Pulami Magar played the best innings in his domestic career handing Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) a four-wicket victory over Western Region in the semi-final of the Prime Minister Cup at the TU grounds on Tuesday.Adarsha Dhakal
Rajesh Pulami Magar played the best innings in his domestic career handing Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) a four-wicket victory over Western Region in the semi-final of the Prime Minister Cup at the TU grounds on Tuesday.
The loss was brutal for Western, particularly Saurav Khanal and Krishna Karki, as the two allrounders staged a remarkable comeback lifting their team to 235-9 from 66-7 in a match that was reduced 49-over-a-side. Opener Anil Mandal and Sagar Pun laid the foundation with a century stand before Magar completed the chase holding nerves at the closing stages.
TAC needed 35 runs to win from the last four overs as they collected 11 runs from the 46th over bowled by Khanal with Magar’s six helping their cause. Karki tried to turn the screw by conceding just four runs in the first five balls of the 47th over. The match fell out of Western grasp when Rohit Kumar Paudel dropped Pulami at long on and TAC earned a boundary leaving 16 to get from the last 12 balls.
Magar then hit Khanal for two consecutive sixes in the 48th over before Sompal Kami sealed the victory with a six. Man-of-the-match Pulami finished with an unbeaten 55 from 53 balls with three sixes and two fours. “It was a semi-final and as a player you need to negotiate that pressure under any circumstances. It gives you a great feeling when your performance helps the team win,” said Magar.
Before Magar’s match-finishing knock, it was Pun and Mandal who dealt with the target professionally keeping the wickets intact by punishing loose balls in their 108-run first wicket partnership. Dhiraj Shahi brought back Western in the game dismissing both the set batsmen in consecutive deliveries. Pun made 65 off 79 balls with six fours and three sixes, while Mandal scored a patient 48 from 80 balls. After the fall of two batsmen, Magar held the innings with skipper Binod Bhandari (17) and Raju Rijal (26) before cutting loose in the end.
Bhandari said a collective batting effort was crucial in team’s victory. “The way the boys paced the innings with half centuries was crucial. Rajesh (Magar) was telling me that he can finish off the game. So we were quite confident that he could do the job for us,” said Bhandari.
Western appeared heading towards a humiliating total when they lost seven wickets inside 18.4 overs with just 66 runs on the board. But Khanal and Karki shared a record 145-run stand for the eighth wicket taking their team to a challenging total. The two batsmen played cautiously initially scoring in singles before cutting lose after 35 overs. Khanal was menacing as he had been throughout the tournament smashing eight sixes and two fours in his 86-ball 82. Karki also smashed six sixes and two fours in his 89-ball 75.
Khanal was left heartbroken after the defeat. “Its only a professional team which can chase a big target like this. We had a great tournament so far and its disheartening to crash out this way,” said Khanal who scored three half centuries in the tournament to be the leading scorer so far with 270 runs. Kami, Jitendra Mukhiya, Pun and Shahab Alam picked up two wickets each for TAC, who will now play departmental archrivals Nepal Police Club in the final on Thursday.