Cricket

Madhesh Province and Bagmati Province shared points after their Group ‘B’ match of the Prime Minister’s Cup National One-Day Cricket Tournament ended in a tie on Monday.

Madhesh, who won the toss and elected to bat first at the Mulpani Cricket Ground, were bowled out for 190 runs in 46.2 overs. Bagmati

Rohan BK top scored for Madhesh with 63 runs off 94 balls with four fours and two sixes.
Santosh Karki scored 23, with Harishankar Shah managed 13, Anil Sah (10) Bishal Shusling (11) and Rajesh Yadav (16) being other useful contributions.

Losing Shah early with just 26 runs on the board, BK and Karki shared 44 runs for the second wicket to give stability to the team.

Karki’s departure led to Madhesh's batting collapse. BK held one end of the crease but wickets kept tumbling regularly at the other end.  He left after being caught out in the 35th over with the score at 157-5.

Madhesh lost four wickets for nine runs in five overs, with the score reading 170-9 at 41.4 overs. Rajesh Yadav’s late 16-run effort dragged them to the score of 190.

Nandan Yadav and Surya Tamang picked up three wickets each for Bagmati, while Ramnaresh Giri and Pratis GC took two apiece.

Chasing the target of 191, Bagmati openers Rit Gautam and Ishan Pandey gave the team a good start by sharing 65 runs. Pandey scored 31, while Gautam managed 32.

Prithu Baskota then entered the field and scored 40 runs from 52 balls with two fours and one six. He was dismissed in the 32nd over with Bagmati sitting comfortably at 128-3.

Skipper Gyanendra Malla, who came in to bat next, was dismissed cheaply for two, which in turn triggered Bagmati’s middle-order collapse.

Durgesh Thapa fell for a duck, Nandan Yadav (3), Pratis GC (8), Rijan Dhakal (1) and Ramnaresh Giri (1).

Bibek Magar managed 25 and Surya Tamang scored 28 to take Bagmati closer to the winning target. But they were all out for 190 in 49.2 overs.Rajesh Yadhav and Pawan Paswan both took three wickets each, while Rupesh Singh picked up two wickets.

A single point took Madhesh Province's tally to five points from three matches for a place in the semi-finals. Bagmati, who were already out of the contest, finished at the bottom of Group B with one point.

Sudurpaschim book first win 

Elsewhere at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Sudurpaschim scored their first victory in the competition by beating Karnali Province by five wickets.

Sudurpaschim, who won the toss and elected to field first, bowled out Karnali for 150 runs in 38.1 overs.

Arjun Gharti scored 70 runs from 96 balls with four fours and five sixes, while Subash Ayer (24) and Himanshu Shahi (12) were the other batters to reach double figures. Bipin Rawal and Anuj Chanara both fell without scoring.

Sudurpaschim’s Narayan Joshi picked up four wickets from 5.1 overs, giving away just 16 runs. Hemant Dhami took three, while Gajendra Bohara took two wickets.

In reply, Sudurpaschim chased down the target in 29.4 overs, scoring 155 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Openers Gajendra Bohara and Tek Rawal put on 54 runs for the first wicket. Rawal was dismissed for 18 runs, but Bohara made 41 from 51 balls.

Sher Malla and Raju Rijal played cameos, contributing 34 and 24, respectively, as Sudurpaschim crossed the rope in just 22.1 overs.