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Province 7 to meet 2 in final
Province No 7 and Province No 2 set the title clash of the first Manmohan Memorial Inter-Province U-16 National cricket tournament on Tuesday with convincing victories in the semi-finalsIn the first semi-final at the TU grounds, Province 7 defeated Province 1 by five wickets
Province No 7 and Province No 2 set the title clash of the first Manmohan Memorial Inter-Province U-16 National cricket tournament on Tuesday with convincing victories in the semi-finals.
In the first semi-final at the TU grounds, Province 7 defeated Province 1 by five wickets. Province 2, meanwhile, rode on back-to-back half centuries from Amit Yadav and Bibek Yadav to ease past Province 3 by 41 runs in the second game.
Province 3 decision to bowl first backfired as Amit and Bibek made merry at the pitch guiding their team to a tournament-high 216-5 in their allotted 30 overs. Province 3 did put up a fight but were skittled out for just 175 runs in 28.5 overs after Bikram Kushwaha took four wickets. Province 3 had a modest start after Deepak Bohora and Aashish Bhattari (15) added 48 runs for the first wicket.
However, they suffered a mini collapse reduced to 88-5 with Bohora making 31-ball 30 with four boundaries from the top order. Sambhav Shrestha and Pratish GC tried to bring their team back with a 48-run stand but the pressure of catching up with the run rate took toll on them. GC top scored with a 21-ball 48 hitting four boundaries and two sixes, while Shrestha chipped 34 from 43 with three fours.
Earlier, Province 2 were reduced to 35-2 before Amit collected 83 runs for the third wicket with Sujit Shah (35). He added another 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Bibek as they crossed 200 runs. Amit made 86 from 74 balls with eight boundaries and a six but it was Bibek’s 26-ball 63 not out that made the difference.
Bibek smashed seven sixes and a boundary in his whirlwind knock. GC and Sushant Karki took two wickets each for Province 3.
In the first match, Province 7 restricted Province 1 to 148-8 before a collective batting effort guided them to 150-5 with 48 balls to spare. After losing opener Hridaya Bithari, a 67-run stand between Rajan Singh and Suwash Ayer laid the foundation for victory.
Ayer scored 37 from 29 with seven fours and Singh’s 28-ball 32 included three boundaries and one six. Rahul Bhandari (25 not out) and Roshan Sawad (23) were other notable contributors for the winning side.
Despite openers Rajan Magar (22) and Luv Kamat (11) giving a 38-run partnership, Province 1 hardly settled in their innings before Bibek Mehta lifted the innings. Mehta hit five fours and two sixes in his 22-ball 41. Navneet Karna was unbeaten on 21-ball 19. Man-of-the-match Narendra Sawad took 4-13 from six overs for Province 7.