Bagmati, Karnali secure second win

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 19: Bagmati Province and Karnali Province secured their second victories in the men's Prime Minister Cup National Cricket on Tuesday. Bagmati claimed a 69-run win over Gandaki Province at Siddharthanagar, while Karnali achieved a dominant 127-run victory against Koshi Province in Bhairahawa.

Opting to bat first at the Siddhartha Cricket Stadium, Bagmati relied on three half-centuries from Ishan Pandey, Shubh Kansakar, and Bipin Acharya to post a challenging total of 288 runs with two wickets in hand. After the early dismissal of Ashutosh Ghiraiya (14) in 6.3 overs, opener Ishan Pandey and one-down batsman Shubh Kansakar partnered for a 90-run stand to stabilize the innings. Pandey scored 69 runs off 82 balls, including six boundaries, while Kansakar smashed nine fours to score 52 runs off 51 balls.

Acharya remained unbeaten with a quickfire 63 runs off 42 balls, hitting seven fours and two sixes. Rijan Dhakal also stayed not out, contributing 23 runs. Together, Dhakal and Acharya put on an unbroken 77-run partnership. Bibek Magar added 34 runs to the total. For Gandaki, Arjun Kumal stood out as the leading bowler, taking four wickets, while Bipin Khatri and Subash Bhandari chipped in with two dismissals each.

In the run chase, Gandaki was bowled out for 219 runs in 44 overs. Vansh Chhetri contributed a half-century with 50 runs off 90 balls. Other double-digit scorers included Sameer Kandel (26), Arjun Kumal (14), Deepak Dumre (19), Dinesh Budhamagar (11), Sujan Gautam (10), Kamal Pariyar (19), Amrit Gurung (20), and Subash Bhandari (not out 18). Ishan Pandey claimed four wickets, while Sakar Gajurel took two in Bagmati's victory.

At Extra Tech Oval, Karnali batted first to accumulate 218 runs for the loss of nine wickets. In response, Koshi was bowled out for just 91 runs in 35 overs. Sunil Dhamala and Dipendra Rawat led the bowling effort, each picking up three wickets to dismantle Koshi's batting lineup. Among Koshi's batters, Chirag Sah (25), Shakib Haq (13), and Ankit Subedi (10) were the only players to score in double digits, while the rest fell cheaply.

Earlier, Arjun Gharti remained unbeaten with an impressive 88 runs, featuring 11 boundaries and two sixes, as he top-scored for Karnali. Himanshu Shahi narrowly missed his half-century, scoring 46 runs off 73 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes. Other double-digit contributors for Karnali included Sunil Dhamala (13), Bipin Rawal (10), Nischal Rawal (20), and Prakash Jaishi (18). In the bowling department, Bipin Mahato took three wickets, while Dipesh Kandel and Prakash Karki bagged two wickets each for Koshi.