Kathmandu – New Entrant Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) defeated defending Champion Armed Police Force(APF) by 5 wickets to win its maiden title, the 7th Pepsi Standard-Chartered National Twenty20 Tournament held at Tribhuvan University Ground on Friday.
The game was set to begin at 10:00 AM NST but delayed till 13:15 NST due to the wet outfield and the slight drizzle. Once the outfield dried out, the game was reduced to 16 overs per side.
Confident looking APF team bat first on a damp slow outfield and the run scoring was also affected by outstanding bowling from TAC to restrict them to 112/7 in 16.0 overs. Pradeep Airee (27) top scored while Dipendra Chaudhary (19), Paras Khadka (16) & Subash Khakurel (14) scored in double digits to manage a tricky target for TAC. Rahul B.K. and Chandra Sawad took 2 wickets each while Avinash Karn, Sagar Pun and Rajesh Pulami shared wicket a piece.
During the chase, Man of the Match – Binod Bhandari (30*) played a vital knock to secure an empathic victory and won the their first final by 5 wickets and crowned the National Twenty20 Champion. Earlier, Anil Mandal anchored the inning at the top with 23 runs. Sagar Pun(11), Naresh Budhayer (13) & Rajesh Pulami (12) also contributed during the chase. It was a nail biting finish at the end of the match but Bhandari managed to hit the winning shot with the boundary in 15.2 overs.
Skipper Paras Khadka & Leg Spinner Shaki Gauchan took two wickets each.
With the win, TAC grabbed a Trophy with Cash Prize of Rs. 1,25,000 while the Runners up got the trophy and Rs. 75,000.
At the post match presentation, different Awards at distributed. Gyanendra Malla (APF) was awarded with Best Batsman Title while Mahesh Chhetri (Region No. 5-Nepalgunj) was adjudged Player of the tournament. Akash Bista from Region 5 grabbed Best Bowler Award alongwith NCFC Emerging Player of the Tournament.
more updates to follow
