Shahab Alam bags 11 wickets for Army as teams depend on spinners on Day 2

Kathmandu, Jan. 16: Kushal Bhurtel was expected to score more on Day 2 as Day 1 ended with his Nepal Police Club (NPC) having only 17 overs to bat as the final game of Jay Trophy against Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) was shortened by bad weather. 

However, Bhurtel, who was not out at 50 with in-at-four Arjun Saud (0 off 13) when umpires called Stumps on Tuesday, departed after adding only a single to his name on Wednesday at Narayani Cricket Ground in Birgunj. From 85/2 in 17 overs on Day 1, NPC declared at 133/9 when Saud departed as the ninth wicket adding 28 off 78.

Saud was caught and bowled by Shahab Alam as his seventh wicket in the first inning in 36.4 overs. Army did not use pacers Sompal Kami and Aakash Chand much on Day 2 but prioritised spinners. 

While Alam gave 37 runs and bowled three maidens in his 12.4 over spell in the first inning, Basir Ahamad gave only 10 runs in his eight-over spell; Ahamad took a wicket and bowled three maidens as well.

Seeing the success of Army with spinners, Police’s skipper Aarif Sheikh did the same. Sheikh used four bowlers throughout Army’s first inning and three of them were spinners.

Police’s spinners bagged nine wickets while getting Army all out for 170 runs in 39.5 overs. Gulshan Kumar Jha, the only medium pacer used by Police, bowled five overs and took the remaining wicket in his five-over spell. Jha took the major wicket for Police as his victim was Bhim Sharki (58 off 55). 

The other major wickets were taken care of by Sagar Dhakal, who bagged a five-wicket haul in the first inning. The slow left-arm orthodox sent Basir Ahamad (40 off 55) and Sompal Kami (32 off 54) alongside the top three Army batters – Imran Sheikh (10 off 29), Trit Raj Das (8 off 5) and Santosh Karki (0 off 3) – back to the pavilion. 

Bhurtel, who propelled Police with a half-century from the bat, bagged a hat-trick with the ball. Catching Bibek Yadav in his bowling in the final ball of the 37th over, Sumit Shrestha and Shahab Alam were caught out in the first two deliveries when Bhurtel returned in the 39th over.

Army led by 37 runs when it was all-out for 170 in 39.5 overs. 

It was again Bhurtel who had to stand tall for Police with the bat. However, he fell short of five runs for his third half-century of the tournament as Alam destroyed the chance in 24.5 overs sending Bhurtel back as the third wicket with Police at 79 runs.

Alam, who bagged seven wickets in the first inning, completed his five-wicket haul in the second inning before Stumps on Day 2 with Police at 132/9 in 46 overs. Basir, who had four wickets, bowled a maiden in the final and 46th over of Day 2 unable to make it a fifer.

Alam bested all the bowlers in the tournament with 11 wickets on Day 2 as he now has 33 wickets. He is followed by Lalit with 20 wickets keeping the gap in check. 

Alam and Basir bowled 44 of the 46 overs for Army while the remaining two saw Aakash Chand in action. Experienced pacer Kami did not bowl a single over in the second inning. s

At Stumps of Day 2, Police led by 95 runs with only a wicket remaining; thus, Dhakal and Rajbanshi, the last two batters of Police, will have the chance to extend the lead when they return to bat first on the final day on Thursday. Army is expected to have enough time to chase the final target on Day 3 and lift the Jay Trophy, but they need to best Police’s bowlers for it.