KATHMANDU, June 1: An impressive bowling from Bipin Khatri and Lal Adhikari helped the Western Region thrash Mid-western Region by nine wickets and reach the semifinals of the ongoing 1st Prime Minister Cup One Day National Cricket Tournament on Thursday.
With second straight victory in Group A, West has now booked its place in the semifinals. Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal Police Club (NPC) have already advanced to the last four as Group B winner and runner-up respectively.
West's skipper Antim Thapa said that his team has performed well despite not having any big name in the squad. “We don't have any big names in the team but our team is balanced and all the players have done their job well. In every match one particular player has stepped up and carried the team through,” said skipper Thapa. He also said that his team is not worried about semifinal opponent. “We will face either Army or NPC in the semifinal. Both are title favorites but we are ready to face either of them,” Thapa concluded.
Put to bat first after losing the toss, Mid-west was bowled out for 62 runs with player-of-the-match Bipin and Lal sharing eight wickets between them. West met the target in 11.1 overs losing just one wicket.
Mid-west couldn't make positive start to the innings with its openers Prajjwal Shahi and Shubhendu Pandey building up a partnership of only 24 runs for the first wicket. Prajjwal made nine runs off 24 balls while Shubhendu bagged 13 runs which was Mid-west's joint highest score. Rajbir Singh and Amar Routela also contributed 13 runs each while none other batsmen touched double digits.
Mid-west lost its six batsmen including Anupam Singh, Rabindra Shahi, Pranit Magar, Siddhant Shahi, Ajay Sahani and Afzal Khan even without scoring a single run.
West's Bipin and Lal pocketed 4-9 in seven overs and 4-24 in five overs respectively. They were supported by Krishna Karki who claimed two wickets.
West's openers Anil Gurung and Saurav Khanal built up a 27-run partnership for the first wicket. Anil made 23 runs with the help of four boundaries facing 39 balls and remaining not out while Saurav collected 20 runs smashing two sixes and two boundaries off eight balls. Nardhoj Sen contributed 19 runs hitting three boundaries facing 20 balls and remaining not out. Amar Routela took one wicket for the Mid-west.
On Friday, Mid-west will compete against the Armed Police Force (APF) in another group match. A win against APF will keep Mid-west's semifinal hopes alive, otherwise the result will take APF into the last four.
APF into PM Cup semis, Mid-west crashes out
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