TAC make it two in a row

KATHMANDU, JANUARY 17

Tribhuvan Army Club registered their second straight victory, while Bagmati Province stunned defending champions Nepal Police Club in the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament here today.

TAC defeated Karnali Province by 80 runs in Group A at the Mulpani grounds, whereas Bagmati outplayed NPC by seven wickets in Group B game played at the TU Stadium. TAC were all out for 195 runs in 43.1 overs but they defended the total by packing Karnali for a paltry 115 runs with more than 16 overs to spare.

TAC lost opener Raju Rijal for a duck in the third over and they were reduced to 42-3 in 12 overs after Rohit Paudel (11) and Hari Chauhan (seven) too fell cheaply.

Anil Mandal and skipper Binod Bhandari then added 115 runs for the fourth wicket to resurrect the innings. But the departure of Bhandari in the 34th over saw a collapse and TAC lost the last six wickets for a paltry 38 runs in 10 overs.

Man-of-the-match Mandal top scored with 89 off 114 balls that included 1 boundaries, while Bhandari — who scored a century in the previous match against Province-1 — struck three fours and a six in his 55- ball 41. Rajesh Pulami (15) and Lokesh Bam (11) also contributed in double figures. For Karnali, Dinesh Adhikari, Raj Shah and Diwan Pun took two wickets each, while Anuj Chunara, Unish Singh and Rabindra Shahi bagged one apiece.

In reply, Karnali never poised threat to the departmental side and they struggle to build partnerships.

Rabindra Shahi top scored with 30 off 42 balls hitting six boundaries, while opener Hemant Oli (16) and Dinesh Adhikari (12) were the only two other batsmen who scored in double digits for Karnali. Sushan Bhari was the pick of the TAC bowlers taking 4-19 from 8.3 overs, while Shahab Alam claimed 3-44 in his 10-over spell. Rohit Paudel took 2-18 and Hari Chauhan bagged one wicket for departmental side.

In another match, Bagmati bowled NPC out for a paltry 111 runs in 29.3 overs before racing to 114-3 with 92 balls remaining. Only four NPC batsmen were able to score in double figures and none of them could convert the innings into big one. Dipendra Singh Airee, who is also the national team vice-captain, scored 39-ball 21 hitting two fours, while Aarif Sheikh struck three boundaries in his 25-ball 21. Openers Sunil Dhamala and Kushal Bhurtel contributed 17 runs each for the defending champions. Amit Shrestha struck the lone six of the innings and he failed to add more runs in his account.

Nandan Yadav and Tilak Bhandari shared eight wickets between them for Bagmati Province, while Ram Naresh Giri claimed the remaining two.

Yadav returned with 4-31 from nine overs, whereas man-ofthe-match Bhandari claimed 4-17 from 7.3 overs.

In reply, Bagmati lost opener Aakash Thapa (one) in the second over with just eight runs on the board before Aadil Khan departed for 12 as the team found it hard to score runs freely. Bagmati were reduced to 35-3 in 15 overs when Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi bowled Paras Khadka out for 17 off 44 balls.

Ishan Pandey and Prithu Baskota took the team home without further loss but the duo took 116 balls to score the remaining 79 runs. Baskota struck five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 48 off 66 balls, while Pandey remained not out on 17 off 66 balls.

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