Cricnepal/Kathmandu: Region Number 7 Janakpur and Region Number 8 Pokhara recorded the respective victories in the opening day of the Pepsi Standard Chartered National One Day Cricket Tournament today.
Anil Mandal smashed a century as Janakpur won over Region Number 3 Kathmandu by thee wickets while Pokhara recorded a seven wickets victory over Region Number 1 Biratnagar.
Played at TU ground, Kathmandu won the toss and opted to bat first. Janakpur put an well fighting bowling as Kathmandu managed to put a respectable total of 185 runs in 46.2 overs. The top scorer for Kathmandu, Niraj Bhattarai scored 38 runs off 57 deliveries. Prashanna Shakya 36, Indra Kamal Manandhar 21, Niraj Basnet 20 and Rupesh Shrivastav 20 were some of the major contributors for Kathmandu. Raj Mohammad, Kumar Prasun and Abhisek Jha grabbed two wickets each while Ram Dayal Mandal, Roshan Thakur and Anil Mandal picked one apiece for Janakpur.
In reply, player of the match Anil Mandal smashed a 116 balls 106 as Janakpur recorded the win. Mandal got his 100 in 112 balls. He hit thirteen fours and a six and shared a 84 runs partnership with Chandan Jha. While, Jha and Raj Mohammad added 22 runs each and Hari Shankar Shah scored 16 for the winners. Dipankar Yonjan and Prashanna Shakya took two wickets each while Rupesh Shrivastav, Keshav Raj Pant and Niraj Bhattarai shared wicket a piece for Kathmandu.
At Pulchowk Engineering Ground, Pokhara won the toss and invited Biratnagar to bat first. Former Bhairahawa player Rahul Kumar Vishwakarma picked up four wickets as Biratnagar toiled hard to make big score. With Deepsh Khatri, Shiva Shrestha, Sushil Kadel, Nischal Pandey and Deepesh Shrestha picking a wicket each, Biratnagar lost all of their wickets in 40.2 overs for just 167 runs. Mehboob Alam top scored for Biratnagar with 36 runs. Puspa Thapa added 34 and Bidhan Goshami 19, Somesh Yadav 14 and Ajay Rajbanshi 12 were some other major contributors.
In reply, Pokhara made a good start as Nischal Pandey and Arjun Rai Adhikari made an opening partnership of 78 runs. Pandey scored 44 off 65 balls with four fours and a six and later was bowled while Adhikari felt one run short off fifty scoring 49 off 87 with equal fours and sixes to Pandey. Rahul Kumar Vishawakarma and Deepesh Khatri later put an winning partnership of 59 runs. Player of the match Vishwakarma remained unbeaten at 39 while Khatri was not out at 26. Vishwakarma hit five fours and Khatri scored two boundaries and six during the play.
On Wednesday, Region Number 6 Baitdai will take on Pokhara while the departmental side APF will face Biratnagar.
