Prime Minister (PM) Cup Men’s National Tournament produced some exciting outcomes. Nepal Police Club contained their unbeaten run defeating the Armed Police Force (APF) in a departmental derby. Bagmati Province stretched their winning run to four matches whilst Madhesh Province also bagged a win.
Two uncapped players scored a century in Monday’s fixture. Two half-centuries and two fifers were also recorded. Summary of match-day 10:
Bagmati Province vs Karnali Province – Mulpani
Karnali: 78/10 (24.2 overs)
Bagmati: 80/3 (13 overs)
Bagmati won by 7 wickets.
The decision to bat first backfired Karnali as they were bowled out for just 78 runs. Only Arjun Gharti (23) and Nischal Rawal (13) managed to cross double-digit scores. Bagmati’s Rijan Dhakal grabbed a fifer (7-1-25-5) and became only the second pacer to do so.
Bagmati completed the chase in just 13 overs. Ishan Pandey scored 40 runs whilst Rabin Joshi made 16*. This is Bagmati’s fourth consecutive win after losing the first two matches against Police and APF. They now have eight points from six matches.
Nepal Police Club vs Armed Police Force Club – Bhairahawa
NPC: 145/10 (41 overs)
APF: 87/10 (34 overs)
NPC won by 58 runs
Asked to bat first, Police Club managed to score 145 runs in a slow track. Opener Dilip Nath top scored with 44 runs whilst Arjun Saud and Shankar Rana contributed 31 and 22 runs. Bhuwan Karki picked up three wickets (10-2-25-3) while Ramesh Kurmi and Amar Routela grabbed two wickets each.
In reply, Police wrapped up APF for just 87 runs, grabbing their fourth win in four matches. They are the only unbeaten team so far in the tournament. Lalit Rajbanshi was a star for Police Club with a superb fifer (8-4-8-5). Rashid Khan also grabbed two wickets. For APF, only Sundeep Jora (25*) and Amar Routela (23) made some contributions.
Madhesh Province vs Sudurpaschim Province – Kirtipur
Madhesh – 319/9 (50 overs)
Sudurpaschim – 239/10 (44.5 overs)
Madhesh won by 80 runs
Choosing to bat first, Madhesh piled up a huge total, thanks to Mayan Yadav’s century and a half-century from Pawan Sarraf and Anil Sah. Mayan scored 115 runs whilst Pawan and Anil made 70 and 69 runs respectively. 319 scored by Madhesh was the second-highest total so far in the tournament. For Sudurpaschim, Sher Malla picked up four wickets.
In response, Sudurpaschim were bowled out in 44.5 overs. Naren Bhatta scored a century and recorded the highest individual score (121) so far in the tournament but that was not enough without support from any other batter. Rajesh Yadav and Pradip Paswan picked up three wickets each for Madhesh. This was Sudurpaschim’s first loss in the fourth match.
