Province 7 overshadowed a gritty knock from Amit Yadav to claim the first Manamohan Memorial U-16 National cricket tournament title with a 24-run victory over Province 2 at the Tribhuvan University grounds on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first, a collective batting effort guided Province 7 to tournament’s second highest total of 208-7 in 30 overs. Amit remained defiant taking his team close to title but once he fell prey to Manoj Lothyal, Province 2 could only manage 184-9 in their allotted 30 overs. The title handed Province 7 a cash purse of Rs 250,000 while runners-up Province 2 got Rs 150,000.

Opener Amit was at the centre of Province 2 chase that began with a 41-run partnership with his opening pair Sahil Patel (25). He added another 35 runs for the second wicket with Imran Sheikh (12). The biggest partnership of the game between Amit and Trit Raj Das came for the third wicket after the two batsmen combined for 73 runs that at one stage put Province 2 at the front foot.

However, Lothyal had Amit caught by Roshan Sawad before paralysing the middle and lower order. Man-of-the-final returned with figures of 5-36 from six overs, while Narendra Sawad had three crucial scalps including that of Das. Amit made 80 from 64 balls with a surprising innings that included no boundary at all. It was his third consecutive half century of the tournament. Das hit a four in his 33-ball 27.

Earlier, Province 7 didn’t have any big scorer but almost all of their batsmen contributed in double figures guiding the team to what was a winning total. Opener Hridaya Bithari top scored batting at the top with a 45-ball 33 runs that included three hits to the fence.

Province 7 were reduced to 77-4 at one stage before a 43-run stand between Rahul Bhandari and Binod Khatri (14) consolidated the innings. Bhandari was their top scorer with a 33-ball 38 that included two sixes and as many boundaries. Roshan Sawad and Narendra (20 off 11) lifted the innings late in the game with a 54-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Roshan chipped in 37 from 18 balls with two sixes and a boundary. Bibek Yadav took two wickets for Province 2. Bibek was later adjudged the player-of-the-series and got Rs 10,000 award. Amit (batsman), Sawad (bowler) and Rajan Singh (wicketkeeper) and Bithari (fielder) were other individual award winners. The best batsman and bowler got Rs 5,000.

Summary

Province Seven 208-7 in 30 overs (R Bhandari 38, R Sawad 37; B Yadav 2-36) beat Province Two 184-9 in 30 overs (A Yadav 80, TR Das 27; M Lothyal 5-36, N Sawad 3-34) by 24 runs

Man-of-the-final: M Lothyal

Man-of-the-series: B Yadav