Cricket

Armed Police Force lifted the Prime Minister’s National One-Day Cricket Tournament title after beating Tribhuvan Army club by four wickets in the final on Saturday.

APF had won their first title in 2018 with a seven-wicket victory also against the Army. Besides the trophy, APF collected the winners’ cheque for Rs 1 million, and the Army received Rs 500,000 as runners-up.

The match was delayed by two hours after APF captain Sharad Vesawkar refused to toss after the Army fielded Sompal Kami in their playing eleven.

The delay reduced the match at the TU Cricket Ground from 50 overs to 40 overs a side.
Sent in to bat first, the Army innings was wrapped for 179 runs in 39 overs. In reply, APF made the chase in 38.3 overs for the loss of six wickets.

APF were off to a poor start in their chase, losing both openers Pradeep Airee and Aasif Sheikh early. Airee fell for 20 and Sheikh for 14 runs. Lokesh Bam was then dismissed cheaply for eight.
Bhuvan Karki, who entered the field with APF at discomfort on 51-3, played an anchoring role scoring 55 runs from 82 balls with four fours and one six.

Karki shared a 75-run partnership with Sumit Maharjan for the fifth wicket to steer the team towards the title. He would be adjudged player of the match for the effort.

APF’s Sundeep Jora and Sharad Veswakar contributed 17 and 15 runs, respectively to secure their second title.

Army, who chased a mammoth total of 305 on Friday, looked lacklustre with the bat in the final, losing their four top-order batters for 44 runs. Arjun Saud made 13, Hari Chauhan (15), Bhim Sharki (6) and Sompal Kami for duck. Their situation turned from bad to worse as middle-order batters Binod Bhandari, Rajesh Pulami, and Kushal Malla too failed miserably, making just 11, 18 and 16 runs, respectively.

Rohit Paudel held on to the crease for the Army, falling one run short of a fifty from 56 balls with three fours before being trapped leg before by Routela.

The Army lost Malla, Paudel and Bikram Sob in quick succession with the score at 132-9.
Lower-order batsmen Jitendra Mukhiya and Sushan Bhari shared a 47-run partnership to take the team’s final score to 179. Bhari was dismissed for 19, Mukhiya scored an undefeated 24.

APF’s Amar Routela and Mousom Dhakal picked up three wickets each and Kishore Mahato took two.

Nepal Police Club captain Dipendra Singh Airee, who cracked two centuries in the competition, was declared the player of the tournament.