In a surprising turn of events at the ongoing KP Oli T20 Tournament in Pokhara, Gandaki Province has managed to upset the heavily favoured Armed Police Force (APF) Club. In the opening match of Group B on Friday, Gandaki secured a four-wicket victory over APF in an intense and low-scoring contest.
Electing to bowl first after winning the toss, Gandaki wrapped up star-studded APF for a mere 101 runs in 18.4 overs. Skipper Pradeep Airee was the top scorer with 20 runs. Sumit Maharjan and Bhuwan Karki scored 14 runs each while Aasif Sheikh and Lokesh Bam scored 12 runs each. Sundeep Jora was dismissed for a duck.
For Gandaki, skipper Bipin Khatri, Amrit Gurung, Chandra Paudel and Kamal Pariyar did a fantastic job picking up two wickets each.
In response, Gandaki province completed the chase in 19.4 overs losing six wickets. Despite being at 26/2 in the fifth over, Muskhan Thapa (25 runs) and Dinesh Budhamagar (24 runs) formed a crucial 49-run partnership, shifting the momentum in favour of Gandaki.
Nevertheless, their partnership was short-lived as both players were quickly dismissed, bringing Gandaki to a challenging position at 88/4 after 18 overs, with 14 runs needed from the final two overs. Although they managed to score nine runs in Mousam Dhakal’s penultimate over, they faced a setback with two wickets falling in the first two balls of the last over. The decisive moment came when Amrit Gurung, on his very first ball, smashed a six, securing the victory for Gandaki.
Avinash Bohara, with figures of 4-0-12-2, claimed two wickets for APF. Shyam Dhakal, with a less impressive performance of 4-0-29-0, had a challenging game. On the other hand, Bhuwan Karki remained wicketless, finishing with figures of 4-0-9-0.
In the first match of the day, Bagmati defeated Karnali by 90 runs and secured a place in the semifinal.
