National players deliver in PM Cup

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 25: National cricket team players participating in the PM Cup Women’s National Cricket Tournament 2080 were in the front to lead their respective teams to a win.

Koshi Province, Armed Police Force Club (APF), Sudurpashchim and Bagmati won against Madhes, Lumbini, Karnali and Gandaki respectively on the third match day of the tournament.

Koshi won the match against Madhes by 60 runs. Madhes could only score 69/9 at the end of 20 overs while chasing a target of 130, which Koshi posted with the loss of four wickets. 

Two national players – Rubina Chhetry and Apsari Begam – were the highest scorers for Koshi. Rubina crossed the half-century mark and scored 57 out of 64 balls. Apsari scored 39 in 41 balls. 

Sabnam Rai, a right-arm off-break bowler for the national team, helped with the bowling as she took two wickets and gave off only eight runs. She was supported by Alisha Kadaiya, who took two wickets giving only seven runs.

Indu Barma and Mamta Chaudhary, two players who have represented Nepal on the international stage, both crossed the half-century mark for APF as it posted a target of 152 in the loss of three wickets. Indu remained not out at 70 off 51 balls while Chaudhary was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 59 off 58 balls. 

Indu was also great with the ball as she took three wickets by giving seven runs to help APF restrict Lumbini to 61/9 after the end of 20 overs of the chase.

Sudurpashchim also posted the same target as APF, but against Karnali. In the loss of four wickets, national player Kabita Joshi’s knock of 78 runs off 50 balls helped Sudurpashchim reach 151 at the end of its innings. It was the highest score of the day. Sudurpashchim was also good with the bowling as Karnali could only score 70 at the end of 20 overs by losing nine wickets.

Experienced Yashoda Bist, who bats with her right hand, took the helm to earn the win for Bagmati against Gandaki. Staying not out, Bist hit a knock of 39 runs from 41 balls to chase the target of 113. Bagmati won the match with four wickets after scoring 116 in 18.4 overs.

Sony Pakhrin, a national player, was the second-highest scorer for Bagmati as she scored 17 off 26 balls.

Of the seven league-stage matches, the eight teams have played three matches each. APF and Koshi are unbeaten in the first three matches and are in the top two positions in the league table respectively. 

The two top teams will be facing each other on Monday. Karnali (8th position), Gandaki (5th position) and Bagmati (4th position) will also be facing Lumbini (6th position), Madhes (7th position) and Sudurpashchim (3rd position) on December 25 respectively.