KATHMANDU: Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Rudramati Club registered wins on the inaugural day of the Madan Bhandari Memorial T20 Cricket Tournament today.
In the Group ‘A’ match at the TU Stadium‚ APF defeated Boyz United Cricket Club (BUCC) by nine wickets. APF‚ who boasted seven national team members in their playing XI‚ bundled out BUCC for 71 in 18.2 overs and in reply had no trouble chasing the target in just eight overs finishing with 75-1.
Wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel (38) and former national team opener Paresh Lohani (21 not out) guided APF safely to the victory adding 62 runs for the first wicket before the former handed a return catch to Ajay Rajbanshi. Khakurel’s 21-ball innings included five fours and two sixes while Paresh hit three fours and a six in 23 deliveries.
Earlier‚ man-of-the-match Shakti Gauchan picked up three wickets for APF but BUCC had struggled from the outset when Dipendra Chaudhary ran opener Punit Thapa out in the third ball of the innings as they failed to make up for the early loss of wickets. Mehboob Alam picked up two while Amrit Bhattarai‚ Sanjam Regmi and Sunam Gautam picked up one wicket each for APF.
Opener Aakash Pariyar was the only batsman to resist APF’s sharp bowling attack with 29 off 51 deliveries while Ajay (11) was the only other batsman to score in double figures.
In Group ‘B’ match‚ Rudramati defeated Kantipur City College (KCC) by three wickets. Opting to bat first‚ KCC made 116-6 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply‚ Prem Tamang smashed a 30-ball 53 as Rudramati chased the target in 14 overs for the loss of seven wickets.
Rudramati were reeling at 16-3 but Surendra Chand (13) and Prem shared a 42-run fourth wicket stand to bring Rudramati back into the match. Surendra hit a four and a six in 11 balls. However‚ T Rajan picked up three wickets to keep KCC in the match but Prem kept his cool to finish it off with Tejendra Rajbhandari (13). Prem hit seven fours and three sixes. Prabin Karki picked up two while Ananda Sagar Singh took one wicket.
Earlier‚ Shibu Budhathoki made a patient 66-ball 51 with seven boundaries to help KCC cross the 100-run mark. Prabin Karki (14) and Prajesh Thapa (13) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures. Sudeep Sharma took three and Pramod Basnet picked up two wickets for KCC.
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