Madhes registers third win beating Karnali by 61 runs

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 21: Madhes Province registered its third win of the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament defeating Karnali Provine by 61 runs at the TU International Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Madhes, which has played five matches in the tournament so far, climbed to the third position in the table after the win. 

Winning the toss, Madhes elected to bat first. The opening pair of Harishankar Shah and Anil Sah gave Madhes a proper start. Madhes’ first wicket fell in the form of Anil in the 14th over leaving the team at 85. Anil fell six runs short of his half-century. 

Harishankar, on the other hand, was able to reach the 50-run mark but failed to go forward. Mayan Yadav, who entered the crease after the first wicket, was able to celebrate his 50; he too failed to score more after it. 

The first four wickets of Madhes fell in the bag of Dipendra Rawat. Rawat completed his spell of 10 overs early as he was sending Madhes’ top order back to the pavilion single-handedly. 

Harishankar, Anil, Pawan Sarraf and Niraj Yadav were the victims of Rawat. Sarraf, who has been dangerous in the previous matches, could only score 11 runs while Niraj went for a duck after facing six balls. Abhishek Tiwari also added 34 runs for Madhes while batting at number 8.

Anuj Chanara took two wickets, including that of Tiwari, while Dinesh Adhikari, Unish Singh and Diwan Pun claimed one each for Karnali. Karnali bowlers only gave six runs as extras in the 50 overs where Madhes put on a total of 231 runs. 

Nevertheless, Karnali failed to chase the target as Madhes’ pacers suppressed the batsmen with swinging deliveries. Karnali’s captain and opener Himanshu Shahi was caught in the slip in the bowl of Rajesh Yadav. Rajesh also took the wicket of Himanshu Shahi and sent him back after scoring only two runs in eight balls.

It was Bipin Shahi, another opener, who was only able to get to the boundary rope time and again for Karnali before Arjun Gharti, Karnali’s wicketkeeper-batsman, joined him.

Bipin almost retired hurt as he suffered a strain on his leg while facing a ball in the early overs of the team’s batting inning. He stood up after being treated by the physio and hit a total of six fours before departing at 31 runs off 38 balls.

Gharti was the only half-centurian for Karnali with two fours and two sixes. He departed after getting caught by Sarraf at 58 runs off 105 balls.

Bowler Dinesh Adhikari, who came after the fall of the eighth wicket, was the second-highest scorer for Karnali scoring 33 runs off 33 balls with three sixes and two fours. Diwan Pun was the final wicket of Karnali as the team got bundled at 170 runs in 41.1 overs.

All seven bowlers used by Madhes took at least one wicket in the match. Rajesh Yadav took three, Pradip Paswan bagged two, and Rupesh Singh, Abhishek Tiwari, Ranjit Kumar, Harishankar and Pawan claimed one each.

The tournament will give a break to TU Cricket Ground on Sunday as Gandaki and Koshi face each other at Mulpani International Cricket Ground. Bhairahawa Cricket Ground will see a departmental derby as Nepal Police Club faces Tribhuwan Army Club on Day 9.