Madhes’ batters shine against Gandaki

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 26: After scoring a century on Thursday, Madhes Province’s wicketkeeper-batsman Anil Kumar Sah is now the current highest scorer in the ongoing PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament with 370 runs in eight matches. Sah scored two half-centuries in earlier matches. 

Opening the inning with Captain Hari Shankar Sah, Anil stayed in the crease until the 38th over. He fell as the fourth wicket after scoring 127 off 125 deliveries with six maximums and 11 fours. 

Hari departed in the first ball of the second over at 2 runs off 6 balls.

Anil was supported by two other highest scorers in the league – Pawan Sarraf and Mayan Yadav. Sarraf added 40 off 38 and Yadav contributed with 27 off 44. Sarraf and Yadav are the third and fourth-highest scorers in the tournament with 303 and 265 runs respectively.

Madhes was able to give a massive target of 336 runs to Gandaki at the TU International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, on Day 13. 

Arniko Yadav was the match’s second-highest scorer with 63 off 34.  Rupesh Singh and Abhishek Tiwari added 32 and 27 runs respectively.

Madhes has now been involved in all three matches of the edition where a target of over 300 runs has been posted. While Madhes was on the receiving end against Tribhuwan Army Club on January 15, it gave a target of 320 to Sudur Pashchim on January 22.

In the chase, seven batsmen of Gandaki scored in double figures, but insufficiently. Gandaki fell short of 145 runs as it got bowled out in the 40th over at 190. Opener Ishwar Chhetri and Kamal Pariyar, who came in at 8, scored 27 runs each for the team. 

Ranjit Kumar fell one wicket short for a fifer, captain Sah bagged three, Pradip Paswan claimed two and Rajesh Yadav took the remaining one for Madhes.

Bagmati bags fifth win

Though Anil is at the top of the highest scorers’ list, he has only two runs more than Bagmati’s opener Ashutosh Ghiraiya. Scoring his second half-century of the edition against Sudur Pashchim at Mulpani on Thursday, Ghiraiya, who hit a century against Koshi, now has 368 runs in eight matches. 

Alongside Ghiraiya, captain Rit Gautam and Ashok Poudel added 44 and 31 runs respectively as the team posted a target of 248 against Sudur Pashchim in the loss of nine wickets. Narayan Joshi and Sher Malla took three wickets each against Bagmati.

However, as only three batsmen crossed the double-figure mark in the chase, Sudur Paschim was bundled out in the 31st over at 150 runs. Naren Bhatta and Kiran Thagunna added 41 runs each followed by 21 runs from the bat of opener Khadak Bohora.

With Rijan Dhakal, Krijan Gurung and Sonu Devkota claiming one wicket each, Surya Tamang and Bipin Acharya bagged three each for Bagmati.

Surya Tamang is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 wickets in eight matches. He is followed by Sudur Pashchim’s Sher Malla with 21 wickets in six matches.APF triumphs

Nevertheless, in the third match of the day, Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club defeated Lumbini Province in Siddharthanagar Cricket Ground, Rupandehi, by seven wickets. 

Electing to bat first, Lumbini was bundled out at a score of 133 in 41 overs. Birat Bhandari was the first wicket to fall for Lumbini in the 14th over after scoring 23 off 51 deliveries. Meanwhile, Mrinal Gurung, another opener, stayed until the 32nd over facing 88 balls to add 34 runs to the board.

Dilsad Ali, who came in at seven, was the highest scorer for Lumbini with 39 off 42, and he stayed not out.  Ramesh Kurmi claimed a fifer for APF followed by three wickets by Bhuvan Karki. Captain Rohit Paudel and Mousom Dhakal also bagged one each. 

Playing his sixth match of the season, Paudel scored his fourth half-century on Thursday. APF lost its two openers by the sixth over when the team was at 28 runs. Puran BK and Paudel then partnered to take the team to 127 runs by the 23rd over as Paudel departed at 52 off 48. 

BK (33 off 57) stayed not out with Amar Routela (8 off 2) to ensure the third win for APF in six matches and keep the hopes for the top 4 alive. Mohammad Hussain, Krishna Karki and Iklakh Ahmed bagged one wicket each.