Cricket
Sudurpaschim Province lifted the Prime Minister's Cup Women's National T20 Cricket title after beating Province 1 by six wickets in the tournament final in Itahari on Saturday.
Sudurpaschim chased down the 102-run target set by Province 1 with one ball to spare in a thrilling finish at the ground of Janata Higher Secondary School.
Sudurpaschim, who beat Madhesh Province by 114 runs in the semifinals, finished undefeated in the seven-team tournament that started on January 13. The winning team received Rs500,000 in cash prize and Province 1 got Rs300,000 as the runners-up.
Needing eight runs in the last over for victory, Sudurpaschim were under pressure. But Kabita Kunwar eased their nerves, hitting Province 1 captain Rubina Chhetri for a six in the second ball of the last over and completed the victory in 19.5 overs. Kunwar was adjudged the best player of the tournament.
Sudurpaschim did not have a good start as their openers fell early in the innings.
However, the middle order batters Shamjhana Khadka and Dolly Bhatta stepped up to the occasion. While Khadka remained unbeaten on 27, hitting two fours, from 33 balls, Bhatta made an explosive 22 off 16 balls with a four and two sixes. Kunwar took the team over the over with an unbeaten 19.
For Province 1, Sabanam Rai, Hiranmai Roy, Rubina Chhetri and Sangeeta Rai took one wicket each.
Earlier, Province 1 put up 101 run for the loss of five wickets in 20 over after they who won the toss and batted first.
Opener Kajal Shrestha and captain Chhetri shared 36 runs for the opening wicket. Chhetri was dismissed on 14 but Shrestha carried on, adding another 39 runs for the second wicket with Apsari Begum, who made 15 runs.
However, Province 1 missed out on an opportunity to put up a challenging total after the other players who came on to bat failed to rotate strike.
Shrestha carried her bat to score 48 not out from 63 balls, with the help of eight fours. Sudurpaschim conceded 15 runs in extras.
Manisha Chaudhary of Sudurpaschim took two wickets, Shratu Kanojia took 1 wicket. Two Province 1 batters were run out.
