Region-II (Birgunj) dethroned holders Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club with a three-wicket win over the departmental team in the Senior One-day National cricket tournament final here at the TU ground on Monday.
Electing to field, Birgunj bundled APF out for a paltry 213 runs. Amit Shrestha made 88 and Arif Seikh 70 as Birgunj completed the chase in 48.5 overs. Birgunj were rewarded with Rs 1,50,000 while runners-up APF received Rs 1,00,000.
Chasing a modest target, Birgunj were in all sorts of trouble after being reduced to 31-4 by the 13th over. Ritesh Singh bowled Anil Sah (0) in the second over when Birgunj had just eight runs on the board. The next three batsmen, Suraj Prasad Kurmi (3), Hasim Ansari (0) and Sumit Shrestha (7) also perished cheaply. It was the 147-run fifth wicket stand between Amit and Sheikh that turned the match in favour of Birgunj.
By the time Bhuwan Karki (3-31) broke the partnership in the 42nd over by dismissing Sheikh, the damage had already been done as Birgunj needed just 36 runs from 54 balls. “We were able to stick to our game plan,” Birgunj coach Suresh Poudel said. “Restricting APF to 213 was key to our success.” Amit then slowly but surely guided Birgunj home. With only four runs required to win, Amit fell to Sanjam Regmi in the 48.4 overs after hitting eight fours in his patient 140-ball innings.
Earlier, a discipline bowling from Kumar Thapa (4-47) and Ram Naresh Giri (3-58) put brakes on APF run scoring. It was only for the No 8 batsman Akash Gupta that helped the defending champions post a respectable total on the board. Gupta blasted 69 off just 45 deliveries with four sixes and eight boundaries.
Apart from the former national team opener Paresh Lohani (32), none of the top APF batsmen shone with the bat until Gupta took over the batting responsibilities.
APF coach Raju Basynat blamed his bowlers for his side’s under-par showing. “Reaching the final was achievement in itself considering that we missed the eight first choice players,” said Basynat. “But still we should have been able to win the match after getting rid of their (Birgunj) top four batsmen cheaply,” said Basynat.
Region-I(Biratnagar) meanwhile bagged the best bowler and batsmen accolades. Raj Kumar Pradhan, who grabbed 16 wickets in five matches, was named the best bowler while Puspa Thapa received the best batsmen award.
Thapa scored 211 runs in five games. Sheikh was adjudged the player-of-the-tournament for his 261 runs and 11 wickets. Lalit Singh Bhandari of Region-IX (Dhangadi) was named the emerging player. He hit 163 runs and picked up 15 wicket in the tournament.
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