Cricket
Armed Police Force entered the final of the Prime Minister’s Cup National One-Day Cricket Tournament after beating Madhesh Province by seven wickets in the opening semi-final on Thursday.
Sent in to bat at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, the Madhesh inning was wrapped for 122 runs in 30 overs. In reply, APF reached the target for the loss of three wickets in 21.3 overs.
They will meet the winners of Friday’s match between Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal Police Club for the title on Saturday.
Madhesh struggled from the onset, losing skipper Harishankar Sah for (6), Rohan BK for a duck, and Anil Sah for (13) to find themselves at 30-3 after nine overs.
The Madhesh middle was also found wanting. They lost three further wickets – Anil Sah (13), Imran Sheikh (16), and Mohammad Aadil Alam (11) – for 32 runs.
Lower-order batter Rupesh Singh came up with gutsy shots, scoring 36 from 23 balls with four fours and two sixes to drag the team to 122 runs.
Kamal Airee was the peak of the APF team’s bowlers, producing a fantastic spell to pick up four wickets from nine overs for 27 runs. He was later adjudged player of the match for his efforts.
Bhuvan Karki and Mousam Dhakal took two each, and Kishore Mahato picked up one.
APF’s openers Pradeep Airee and Aasif Sheikh gave their team a comfortable start sharing a 60-run partnership. Sheikh scored 25, while Airee made 33.
Lokesh Bam (35), Sumit Maharjan (11) and Sundeep Jora (6) steered the side towards victory, scoring 123 runs in 21.3 overs at the loss of three wickets.
