Nepal Police Club has clinched an exciting 2-run victory over Bagmati Province in the Kathmandu Mayor’s Cup ODI Cricket Tournament on Saturday.
The police team were crumbled for a mere 72 runs in 25.2 overs, after electing to bat at Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu.
Police had a bad start losing the first wicket for 11 runs and rocked back to 4 down for 19 runs at 12th over.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel was the first to go. He scored two runs, Sunil Dhamala, the other opener went for 10 runs. Amit Shrestha struggled for his 3(18) runs and Dipendra Singh Airee went without troubling the scoreboard.
Only four batsmen were on double figures. Dilip Nath and Anil Shah scored 10 runs each while captain Manjit Shrestha contributed 15 runs.
Ario Poudel playing the second match for Bagmati bagged four wickets and Nandan Yadav took three wickets. Poudel gave away 7 runs in his four overs with one maiden.
In reply, Bagmati Province were restricted to 70 runs in 27.2 overs. Aadil Khan and Gyanendra Malla opened the innings. Khan made 10 runs before finding an edge to the keeper. Malla looked fluent with his bat after making 22 off 45 balls, including two boundaries and a six. However, he was bowled by Dipendra Singh Airee, who dismissed Paras Khadka in a similar fashion, after two balls.
At 15.3 overs, Bagmati were 43 for 3, and then the collapse began.
Ishan Pandey was dismissed for 7(31) runs. Prithu Baskota, who was the leading run-scorer in Prime Minister Cup, couldn’t bring the same form in the match and dismissed for 9 off 20 balls with two boundaries.
Similarly, Wicketkeeper-batsman Akash Thapa contributed four runs. Bipin Acharya made eight runs while Sonu Devkota, Nandan Yadav, and Ramnaresh Giri didn’t trouble the scorer. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi took two wickets in an over at 25th over mark and that brought the Police team right in the match.
Bagmati Province were bundled out for 70 runs and Police team earned an unbelievable victory by 2 runs. Dipendra Singh Airee was the pick of the bowlers as he bagged four wickets in his 8 overs, earning him the player of the match award.
