Nepal Police Club and Province No. 1 bagged victories in day two of Prime minister cup, 2074.
Nepal Police Club Vs Province No. 7
Chasing mammoth 325 runs to win, province 7 could only manage 130/7 from 37 overs in a rain affected encounter. The rainfall didn’t do any favor to Province 7 as they were already in a scrawny position at 37 for 5 in 13.2 overs. The downpour meant province 7 had to chase a revised target of 305 runs in 37 overs.
Only Arun Airee contributed a respectable score with the bat to prevail the innings. With 5 fours and 3 sixes, he assemblde 70 runs in 88 balls to salvage the innings. None other batsman could support him from the other end. The target was too big as they could only manage 130 in their allotted 37 overs handing the match by 174 runs (D/L).
With stiff line and length, national Player Dipendra Singh Airee snapped 4 wickets giving away only 19 runs in 8 overs. Lalit Bhandari also took 2 wickets for Nepal Police Club.
Earlier winning the toss, NPC elected to bat first. Opener’s Sunil Dhamala and Dilip Nath put on 92 for the first wicket. Dilip nath made 27 before getting out to Santosh Bhatta. However, Dhamala kept going till the 40th over. His stupendous innings came to a close when he was run out. With 9 boundaries, he made 83 runs.
After his dismissal, Aarif Sheikh and Manijt Shrestha took charge with the bat. Aarif sheikh raged to his fifty in only 31 balls. His innings of 57 came from 37 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes. Aarif was well supported from the other innings by the skipper Manjit Shrestha who smashed 49 not out from 33 balls.
For province 7,Sher Malla, who took 5 wickets yesterday took 2 wickets. Sunil Dhamala was declared the player of the match for his outstanding innings with the bat.
Province no. 1 Vs Province no. 2
Province no. 1 outplayed province no. 2 by 68 runs (D/L) in the other match played at Mulpani Cricket Ground. After winning the toss, province no. 1 elected to bat first. From their allotted 50 overs, province 1 made 223 runs losing 7 wickets.
Opener Sandeep Dhungana cracked 51 runs from 69 balls with 8 glorious boundaries. Most of the batsman contributed partly, failing to convert their start. Firdosh Ansari’s 37 helped province 1 to post decent total in the board. His innings came from 33 balls with 2 massive sixes.
Samsad Sheikh was pin point with the ball taking crucial wickets of opener Sandeep, Puspa Thapa(12) and tail enders Ankit Subedi(12) and Sunny Pun(15). Veteran Mehaboob Alam also recorded 2 wickets to his name.
Due to rain the chase was shortened to 34 overs with a revised target of 214 runs. Puspa Thapa and Minash Thapa picked 3 wickets each to dismantle province no. 2 for a mere 145 runs in 30 overs. Puspa gave away only 23 runs in 8 overs with 2 maidens. Minash was equally good as Puspa, giving away 29 runs in his 7 overs. Hari Shankar Shah top scored for the losing side with 44 runs. Rahul Singh made a consolation 22 towards the end of the innings to reduce the casualty. Skipper Puspa thah was adjudged the player of the match for his all-round performance.