By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club (NPC) mark the winning start to the fifth edition of the Prime Minister’s Cup One Day National Cricket Tournament.
Nepal APF Club beat Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) by 56 runs in an opening match of the tournament at TU Cricket Ground. APF, who lost the toss and got to bat first, got all out in 47.4 runs collecting 219 runs.
Opener Pradeep Singh Airee collected the highest of 71 runs off 80 balls including 4 fours and 6 sixers. Sudeep Jora scored a half-century off 62 balls with 6 fours.
While Lokesh Bam got dismissed for 0, Aasif Sheikh (9), Bhuvan Karki (26), Sumit Maharjan (7), Sharad Vesawkar (16), Kamal Airee (3), Kishore Mahato (1), and Mousom Dhakal added 12 runs to the tally. Amar Routela remained unbeaten for 10 runs off 28 balls with a boundary.
Half Centuries from Hari Chauhan and Rohit Paudel went into vain as TAC failed to chase the winning target of 220 runs. Army men were all dismissed in 32.1 overs with 163 runs.
With 7 fours and 1 sixer, Hari Chauhan collected the highest of 65 runs off 67 deliveries for TAC. Rohit Poudel scored 51 runs off 59 deliveries with 7 fours. Captain Binod Bhandari and Rajesh Pulami got caught by Aasif Sheikh off Kamal Singh Airee’s ball with 1 run each.
Opener Arjun Saud (6), Bhim Sharki (6), Kushal Malla (3), Bikram Sob (2), Shahab Alam (2) and Sushan Bhari added 8 runs to the scoresheet. Jitendra Mukhiya remained unbeaten for 2 runs off 5 balls.
Dipendra stars in NPC victory
In a match played at Mulpani Cricket Ground, NPC hammered Bagmati Province by 192 runs. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee hits a century as NPC collected 289 runs losing 5 wickets in the scheduled 50 overs.
NPC’s opener duo Sunil Dhamala and Kushal Bhurtel scored 37 runs each. Yogendra Singh Karki added 16 runs off 34 deliveries and Aarif Sheikh bagged 36 runs off 68 balls. Dilip Nath and Pawan Sarraf remained unbeaten for 12 and 15 runs respectively.
NPC wrapped up the game in 28 overs as Bagmati Province failed to chase the winning target of 290 runs and got all out for 97 runs. Ishan Pandey collected the highest runs of 24 for Bagmati.
Nandan Yadav, Pratish GC and Ramnaresh Giri added 10, 14 and 22 runs respectively for Bagmati. Other batsmen couldn’t score in double figures. Karan KC, Gulshan Jha and Sagar Dhakal of NPC took 2 wickets each.
Player of the Match Dipendra Singh Airee took the utmost 3 wickets in 5 overs giving away 10 runs.
