Sompal Kami starred with both bat and ball as Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) began their Prime Minister Cup One-Day national cricket tournament campaign with a 55-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Province 2 on Thursday.

In the Group ‘A’ match at the TU grounds, a collective batting effort took Armymen to 244 all out in 49.3 overs. Following rain intervention, Province 2 were given a revised target of 238 in 40 but were restricted to 182-9.

Sompal gave the early initiative removing Kundan Singh for a duck in the third over. Another opener Hari Shankar Sah and Hashim Ansari consolidated the innings before a middle collapsed saw them lose seven wickets in a space of 38 runs. Hari Shankar handed a return catch to Sagar Pun after scoring 34 off 33 with four boundaries and a six.

Hashim was next to go for 28, trapped leg before by Sushan Bhari Shrestha. He hit four boundaries in his 37-ball innings. Sushan struck again in the same over removing Bishal Shusling for a duck. Sompal returned to take two more wickets, while spinners Sahab Alam and Sagar took one each reducing Province 2 to 109-8 in 26.5 overs. Rashid Khan and Suraj Patel prolonged TAC’s wait for victory with a 43-run stand for the ninth wicket. Rashid fell to Sahab after scoring 34, his 40-balls knock included three fours and a six.

Suraj continued to frustrate TAC bowlers as the No 10 batsman was the lone scorer in a 30-run last wicket stand with Divyanshu Mallick, who didn’t open account in his nine-ball stay at the crease. Man-of-the-match Sompal returned with figures of 3-45 from eight overs. Sagar, Sushan and Sahab also took two wickets each.

Earlier, TAC lost opener Sagar (eight) and skipper Binod Bhandari (23) before Anil Mandal and Raju Rijal shared a 55-run stand for the third wicket. Spinner Samsad Sheikh put TAC on the back foot getting rid of Anil and Naresh (duck) in the 26th over. Anil scored 35 off 65 balls with four hits to the fence. Raju continued to hold the innings and was involved in a 45-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Rajesh Pulami Magar.

Raju was bowled by Mehboob Alam after the middle order batsman scored 50 off 85 balls with five fours and a six. Rajesh was looking fluent in his 44-ball 40 but Mehboob struck again to get rid of him. Rajesh struck two sixes and as many fours. TAC seemingly headed towards an unsafe total at 201-8 in 43.5 overs before Sompal provided the late lift.

The fast bowling allrounder scored a 28-ball 41, hitting three fours and a six while also putting on 43 runs for the ninth wicket with Sushan (12). Divyanshu took 3-42 from 8.3 overs, while Rashid also took two wickets for Province 2.

Summary

Tribhuvan Army Club 244 all out in 44.3 overs (R Rijal 50, S Kami 41; D Mallick 3-42, S Sheikh 2-32) beat Province Two 181-9 in 40 overs (S Patel 48 not out, R Khan 34, H Sah 34; S Kami 3-45, S Bhari 2-10) by 55 runs under D/L MethodMan-of-the-match: S Kami