Cricnepal/Kathmandu: Kalicharan Yadav completed an incredible hat trick as Region Number 1 Biratnagar stormed into the final of the Wai Wai Under 19 National Cricket Tournament with an interesting one-wicket victory over Region Number 2 Birgunj on Tuesday at Rangashala Ground, Pokhara.
Yadav is the first bowler to claim a hat trick in the national tournament in the U-19 age category.
Winning the toss, Birgunj opted to bat first but their decision got shattered when they lost their first wicket in the very second over. Kalicharan Yadav, the man of the match then interestingly sent Arif Sheikh(3), Suraj Prasad Kurmi(0), Kanchan Thapa(0) and Bijay Ghalan(0) off in second over consecutively.
Birgunj further lost two of their wickets in sixth and seventh over respectively as the team had to struggle at 9 for 7. 27 runs partnership between Nabin Yadav and Mustkim Miya took the team score to 36 runs before Yadav got caught for 7 runs. Miya added a further 14 runs partnership with number ten batsman Avinash Karn to lead the team’s total to 50 but lost his wicket in 23rd over. Miya contributed important 22 runs. Karn, remaining unbeaten top-scored for Birgunj with 27 runs off 71 balls with four fours and also shared a highest 39 runs partnership with Irshad Ahamed who added 11 runs.
Kalicharan Yadav destructed Birgunj’s innings with five wickets, Rohit Singh claimed three wickets while Amit Dahal managed to take two.
In reply, Biratnagar manages to chase the target in 32.8 overs losing nine of their wickets. Opener Somesh Yadav got sent off for null score at the very second ball while Amol Das (21) and Mayanand Chaudhary (9) shared a 32 runs partnership for the second wicket. While none of the other batsman contributed much as the team kept on losing their wickets. Ankit Subedi with 10 runs and Amit Dahal remaining unbeaten at 12 runs guided the team to victory.
Avinash Karn claimed three wickets while Ram Naresh Giri, Nabin Yadav, Irshad Ahamed and Arif Sheikh shared a wicket each for Birgunj.
Region Number 5 Nepalgunj will face Region Number 4 Bhairahawa in the second semi-final on Wednesday.
