Bhurtel stars as Rapti outplay Narayani

CHITWAN, DECEMBER 14

Rapti edged past Narayani by one wicket in the last league round match of the Gautam Buddha Cup here at the under-construction Gautam Buddha International Stadium today.

Kushal Bhurtel of Rapti plays a shot against Narayani during the last league round match of the Gautam Buddha Cup at the Gautam Buddha International Stadium in Chitwan on Monday, December 14, 2020. Photo Courtesy: HamroKhelkud

Batting first, Narayani posted 138-8 in their allotted 20 overs before Rapti reached 139-9 with one ball to spare.

The outcome of the match made no difference in the lineup as both the teams had already advanced to the final, which is slated for Tuesday.

Bagmati were eliminated from the three-team tournament after facing loss against Narayani and Rapti.

Narayani made a disastrous start losing opener Raju Rijal for a duck in the second over and they were reduced to 28-4 inside seven overs. Narayani batsmen could not revive the innings and they were reeling at 79-7 after 16 overs.

Karan KC and Kishore Mahato gave some respectability to the total adding 59 runs for the eighth wicket. Mahato remained unbeaten on 36 off just 14 balls that included two fours and four sixes, while KC struck a four and three sixes in his 22-ball 32 before being dismissed in the last ball of the innings.

Sushan Bhari (18), Rit Gautam (13) and Ishan Pandey (10) also scored in double figures. For Rapti, Surya Tamang (2-27) and Abinash Bohara (2- 41) shared four wickets between them, while Jitendra Mukhiya, Kamal Singh Airee and Basant Karki took one wicket each.

In reply, Kushal Bhurtel scored almost half of the target runs as Rapti registered their second straight victory. Bhurtel struck four boundaries and six sixes in his 41-ball 65. After losing opener Amit Shrestha for the first-ball duck and Asif Sheikh (14) in the third over, man of the match Bhurtel and Sumit Maharjan (12) added 73 runs for the third wicket to take the team towards victory.

But Rapti came under pressure after they lost seven wickets for 24 runs. Kamal Singh Airee (24) and Surya Tamang (one) took the team home adding 19 runs for the unbroken ninth wicket. Airee struck three fours and a six in his unbeaten knock.

Karan KC was the pick of the Narayani bowlers taking 3-24, while Kishore Mahato and Sushan Bhari share four wickets between them and Dipesh Shrestha and Shahab Alam pocketed one wicket apiece.

 

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