Army and Karnali reach KTP final

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 16: Tribhuwan Army Club and Karnali Province advanced to the final of the Koshi Province Trophy in Biratnagar after winning their respective semi-final matches on Friday. The two teams are playing at Baijanath Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Tribhuwan Army Club (TAC) and Karnali Province both won by five wickets against Sudur Pashchim Province and Lumbini Province respectively.

Basir Ahamad was the man of the match in the first semi-final match of the tournament as he took a four-wicket haul and stayed not out with a half-century to take Army 

to the final.

Electing to field first, Army restricted Sudur Pashchim to 163/9 in 20 overs. Nitesh Patel also took three wickets and Sumit Shrestha bagged one for Army.

With Sudur’s top and middle order failing with the bat, in at six and eight, Kiran Thagunna and Narayan Joshi rescued Sudur in the end. Kiran’s 43 off 32 and Narayan’s 59 off 22 were what took Sudur to 163.

While Army lost opener Imran Sheikh for a golden duck in the first delivery of the chase, Santosh Karki and Trit Raj Das partnered for a while. Santosh and Trit departed after adding 31 and 38 runs respectively taking the team to 74 runs. And Basir did the rest.

Army, with five wickets and five balls in hand, chased the target of 164 successfully to reach the final in the tournament’s first edition.

On the other hand, as only the top order performed satisfactorily, batting first, Lumbini posted a target of 152 after getting bundled out by Karnali in 18.2 overs. Dipendra Rawat’s four-wicket haul, three wickets by Prakash Jaishi, two by Diwan Pun and one by Dinesh Adhikari helped bowl out Lumbini for a low target.

Aakash Tripathi was the highest scorer for Lumbini with 65 off 39. The second-highest scorer for Lumbini was opener Mrinal Gurung (22 off 23).

Lumbini was gaining momentum as the bowlers restricted Karnali to 78 runs when Dipendra departed as the fifth wicket in 11.5 overs. However, in at six and seven, Arjun Gharti and Dinesh Adhikari respectively rescued Karnali.

Arjun scored 43 off 27 and Dinesh added 36 off 20 as the duo stayed not out and chased the victory-target of 152. Bir Magar, Nirmal Gurung, Dev Khanal, Nar Sarki and Krishna Karki bagged one wicket each for Lumbini.

Army has played five matches in the tournament, including the semi-final, so far, and the team has remained unbeaten. However, Karnali has lost two of its last five matches. Army also defeated Karnali in 

the group stage.