Nepal Police Club lift 1st Jay Trophy

Kathmandu, Jan. 17: Nepal Police Club (NPC) lifted the Jay Trophy, a multi-day red-ball cricket between elite domestic teams, as the champions of the inaugural edition defeating Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) at Narayani Cricket Ground, Birgunj, on Thursday.

The three-day final, which started on January 14, came to an end with NPC’s spinner-duo Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Sagar Dhakal defending the final target of 103 runs.

In the tournament between the Top 4 teams of Men’s PM Cup 2024, Police and Army bested the two provincial teams – host Madhes and Bagmati – in the group stage to vie for the Jay Trophy in the final as the Top 2 teams.

Police and Army had played a draw in the first game of Jay Trophy on January 5-6 before meeting in the final. The four teams competed in a two-day format during the group stage while the final was played in a three-day format. 

Army had a new start to the final compared to their other games in the tournament. Army was asked to bat first in the three group games after losing the toss; however, when TAC skipper Binod Bhandari won the toss in the final, he decided to field first.

Police declared the first inning in 36.4 overs at 133/9 with Army’s Shahab Alam picking up seven wickets alone. Police’s Sagar Dhakal then responded with a fifer to have Army all-out at 170 runs in 39.5 overs.

Trailing by 37 runs in the second inning, Police knew they had to score more to have a chance at defence in the end. But Police could only add 139 runs in the second inning as Army’s spinner duo – Shahab Alam and Basir Ahamad – bagging a five-wicket haul each. 

Police had to defend 103 runs against Army, a team which had been able to score over the ceiling in the group stage. Nevertheless, in a tournament where spinners were shining the brightest, NPC’s skipper Aarif Sheikh had Lalit and Sagar bowl all the overs in the last inning.

As a result, the duo took care of all 10 wickets of Army in 29.2 overs and won the final by 28 runs. Dhakal bagged a six-wicket haul in his 14.2 overs while Rajbanshi remained happy with four wickets in 15 overs.

Army had two changes to the squad compared to the one they used against Police in the group stage. Kushal Malla, who is in the UAE for ILT20, was replaced by Imran Sheikh while Sumit Shrestha replaced Pawan Karki. Malla would have been a great asset for Army in the final; yet, Police also began without their major star – Dipendra Singh Airee, who is also in the UAE for ILT20. 

“It was a new project, and it got a lot of mileage in the first season. I also received a call today from ICC’s Asia Development Manager and said that the ICC closely monitored the tournament and appreciated the move of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN),” said Chatur Bahadur Chand, President of CAN.

“This tournament will be one of the major points based on which Nepal will seek to be acknowledged as a Test-playing nation in the future,” Chand added.

Best performances

The tournament saw a few great moments in batting as the overall event saw spinners raising the roof every time. 

Evaluating the performance in the group stage, Madhes’ Mayan Yadav, the only centurion of the tournament, was adjudged the Best Batter of the Tournament. Despite two innings less than many others, Yadav stood at the top as the most run scorer.

Similarly, Army’s Shahab Alam, with 21 wickets in group stage, was the Best Bowler of the Tournament. Alam also received the Player of the Tournament Award, where the final’s performance was also evaluated, for 33 wickets in total.