KATHMANDU, May 28: The departmental team Armed Police Force Club (APF) and Province 7, showing excellent batting and bowling performances respectively, have registered wins in the curtain raiser of the Inter-provincial Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament on Sunday.
At the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, APF defeated Province 4 by five wickets, while Province 7 beat Province 6 by 48 runs at the Mulpani Cricket Ground.
In Group A’s match, Province 4, who won the toss and opted to bat first, presented a target of 239 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, APF hit 242 runs losing five wickets with 81 balls still remaining to play.
Hari Chauhan hit the highest 57 runs off 64 deliveries including a six and seven fours for Province 4, while captain Bidhan Shrestha scored 43 runs off 82 balls which included three boundaries. Likewise, Bipin Khatri added 27 and Amrit Gurung contributed 21 runs for the losing team. They both were sent back to the pavilion after being run out.
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Kamal Singh Airee was the pick of the APF bowlers as he pocketed three wickets giving away 42 runs in nine overs, while Amar Singh Routela picked up two wickets giving away 26 runs in his spell of seven overs. Likewise, Karan KC and Prithu Baskota nicked a wicket each.
APF, in reply, started terribly as the opening batsman Aasif Sheikh was out at 12-1, but the other opener Subhash Khakurel scored 48 runs off 61 balls with six fours. Rohit Kumar Paudel, coming in the middle order, presented a superb batting performance with his not out 73 runs off 41 balls including three sixes and 10 boundaries. Paudel was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his brilliant batting display.
Also, Baskota hit 53 off 53 with a six and seven fours, while Pradeep Singh Airee contributed 37 runs.
Khatri, Sen, Chauhan, Pradhan and Ghimire claimed a wicket each.
In Group B’s match, Province 7 was put to bat first after losing the toss and it was all out for 125 runs in 31.3 overs. In reply, Province 7 bowled superbly to limit Province 6 to 77 runs for the loss of all its wickets in 22.2 overs.
Sanju Damai scored the highest 54 runs off 71 balls including a six and five boundaries, while Surendra Chand hit 25 runs off 26 balls with five fours.
Tek Sulami was simply brilliant in bowling as he picked up five wickets giving away 12 runs in 8.3 overs, while Dinesh Pun pocketed two wickets for the losing side. Also, Chandra BC and Prakash Jaisi claimed a wicket each.
In reply, Rabindra Shahi scored 29 runs off 36 balls with six fours, while Diwan Pun hit 13 off 18 including two fours. All the other batsmen made single-digit runs.
Sher Malla was just as brilliant as Sulami as he also picked up five wickets giving away 21 runs in 7.2 overs. He was named the man-of-the-match for his game-winning bowling.
Likewise, Santosh Bhatta and Binod Lama nicked two wickets each, while Bikram Thagunna claimed a wicket.
