Sports
PM Cup National One-Day: Departmental teams secure convincing wins
Army club ease to 113-run win over Province 1 as Police beat Karnali Province by 94 runsSports Bureau
Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal Police Club eased to convincing wins in the PM Cup National One-Day cricket tournament on Sunday.
The Army club beat Province 1 by 113 runs at the Tribhuvan University Stadium while NPC saw off Karnali Province by 94 runs at the Mulpani cricket ground.
The Army outfits posted 204 all out in 45.3 overs thanks to a battling half century from Rajesh Pulami Magar and a fluent 41 from Hari Bahadur Chauhan. Province 1 were bowled out for 91 in 26.5 overs in reply.
Man-of-the-match Magar top scored for Army with a composed 56 off 93 deliveries while Chauhan hit four boundaries and a six in his 51-ball 41. Skipper Binod Bhandari, who opened the bat with Raju Rijal (6), contributed 30 with four fours and a six. Karan KC (26) and Kushal Malla (16) also chipped in valuable runs to the total. Dipesh Kandel took three while Mukund Yadav and Firdosh Ansari claimed two wickets each for Province 1.
Province 1 found it tough to handle the experienced Army bowling lineup and were dismissed even before reaching the three figure mark. Tailender Rajan Magar top scored for Province 1 with 23-ball 26 as both their established names Siddhant Lohani (4) and skipper Pushpa Thapa (4) failed with the bat. Sushan Bhari claimed three and Karan KC bagged two wickets for the Army Club.
In a match played on mats at the Mulpani ground, middle order batsmen Dilip Nath and Kushal Bhurtel bailed the Police club from a deep trouble to post a respectable 185 runs in 41 overs. As it turned out the total was too big for Karnali to overcame as the team was restricted to just 91 in 27 overs.
Police were in dire straits losing top five batsman to be 22-5 by the ninth over. But Nath and Bhurtel turned the match upside down putting on a massive 139 runs for the sixth wicket. Man-of-the-match Nath scored 72, his 84-ball knock included five hits to the fence and a six.
Bhurtel slammed 77-ball 62 with six boundaries and a six. They were the only Police batsmen to score runs in double figures.
Sudan Pokharel was the chief destroyer taking out top five Police batsmen but his five-wicket haul went all in vain. Diwan Pun also took two wickets for Karnali.
Karnali batsmen failed to back the excellent bowling effort from their team to be out for 91 runs with opener Sushant Thapa scoring 29 off 30 balls. Aarif Sheikh took four and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi three wickets for Police.
Nepal Armed Police Force Club will take on Sudurpaschim Province at the TU Stadium while Province 3 will be up against Province 5 at the Mulpani ground on Monday.