Koshi ends winless drought in PM Cup defeating Lumbini in final group match

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 31: Koshi Province was highly expected to end its campaign without a single win at the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament as it failed to win in eight of the nine group matches it played. 

However, playing its final group match at TU International Cricket Ground on Tuesday, Koshi ended its winless drought defeating Lumbini Province by 16 runs. On the other hand, Lumbini, which was playing its second-to-last group match, failed bag its second victory in the tournament. 

While Lumbini’s bowlers did enough to restrict Koshi below 200 runs, the batting side could not deliver in the chase as it got bundled out in the 47th over at 156 runs.

Nar Sarki took four wickets, Bir Magar took three, Avishek Gautam took two and Krishna Karki took one for Lumbini. Three batsmen of Koshi, including opener Samir Karki and experienced Sujan Thapaliya, were sent back for a duck.

Captain Ankit Subedi fell only a run short of his half-century after getting caught in the 26th over while Saujan Ghimire also added 43 runs before getting struck leg-before in the 45th over as the last wicket for Koshi.

Desperate for at least one win in a tournament filled with failures for Koshi, the bowlers delivered when it mattered the most. Koshi used seven bowlers, with Meenash Thapa bowling only one over, to pressurise Lumbini throughout the chase.

After delivering with the bat, Saujan Ghimire also took three wickets with the ball. Avyash Timilsina, Kamal Khatri and Samir Karki also bagged two wickets each for Koshi. 

Dilsad Ali was Lumbini’s highest scorer with 32 off 64 followed by Birat Bhandari (28 off 60), Samrat Bhusal (26 off 27) and Krishna Karki (22 off 22). Six batsmen could not score in double figures for Lumbini as the team failed short of only 16 runs. 

Lumbini faces finalist Nepal Police in its last group match at Mulpani on Wednesday. Police has remained unbeaten in the tournament and advanced to the final leading the group standings with 14 points from seven matches. 

APF beat Sudup Paschim

On the other hand, Sudur Pashchim’s hope of climbing to the top four was dashed by Armed Police Force (APF) Club in a match where the two teams did not even play for a joint 50 overs.

Electing to field first, APF bundled out Sudur Pashchim in the 17th over for only 87 runs. Three batsmen of Sudur Pashchim failed to open their accounts, including two who returned to the pavilion for a golden duck. 

Chandan Ram was the main weapon for APF as he claimed a fifer in only seven overs; nevertheless, he was expensive with 51 runs. 

Bhuvan Karki, who bowled 6.2 overs, bagged three wickets alongside a maiden over. Bowling only two overs, captain Rohit Paudel also took two wickets for the team.

Narayan Joshi stayed not out as the highest scorer for Sudur Pashchim with 31 off 25. The only other batsman to score in double figures for Sudur Pashchim was opener Khadak Bohora (24 off 33).

Nevertheless, the chase was not as easy as APF expected it to be. It only took APF 14.1 overs to score 89 but had to lose seven wickets. 

Losing opener Lokesh Bam in the first over for six runs, Aasif Sheikh, Sumit Maharjan and Paudel joined him in the next eight overs after contributing 23 runs in total with the bat.

Sundeep Jora stayed not out as the team’s highest scorer with 18 runs off 15 balls. He took the team to the win with Chandan Ram on the runner’s end; meanwhile, Ram did not have to face any ball.

In 13 overs of bowling in turns, Dipak Chand and Naren Saud took four and three wickets respectively for Sudur Pashchim while Sher Malla, who bowled 1.1 overs, did not bag any. 

The fifth place APF is now with 10 points from five wins and three defeats. AFP has still one match in hand.  

After suffering fourth defeat Sudur Paschim is out of the title contention. Sudur Paschim, which also has one match left, has eight points from four wins and four defeats.