Patel fires Madhesh top

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 28: Madhesh Province jumped to the top of the table while Sudur Paschim registered their second win in the PM Cup on Friday.

Bishal Patel's fifer helped Madhesh secure a hard‑fought 25‑run victory over Lumbini Province in the PM Cup at Janakpur.

Batting first after winning the toss, Madhesh were bowled out for just 124 in 38.1 overs. In reply, Lumbini faltered against Patel’s incisive bowling and were dismissed for 99 in 26 overs.

The left‑arm medium pacer tore through the top order, finishing with outstanding figures of 5 for 24. He dismissed opener Ranjeet Khadka, one‑man down Aakash Tripathi and two‑man down Prajjwol Thapa for ducks to make Lumbini totter at 10.3 within the fifth over. He also dismissed Dhruba Sunar for four and Nirmal Gurung for a duck to complete his fifer.

Despite a fighting 30 from Sumit Shrestha and a late 16 from Sandesh Thapa, Lumbini were dismissed for 99 in 26 overs. Captain Dev Khanal and Santosh Yadav chipped in with identical 12 runs.

Pradip Paswan chipped in with two wickets, while Mohammad Aadil Alam, Rupesh Singh and Aashik Baitha claimed one apiece.

Earlier, Mayan Yadav top‑scored with 31 for Madhesh. Alam struck a brisk 23, whereas Pawan Sarraf (19) and Arniko Yadav (11) chipped in with two‑digit scores.

Lumbini’s bowlers Santosh Yadav (3‑13) and Sandesh Thapa (3‑38) shared six wickets between them to constrain Madhesh to a modest total. Ajaya Chauhan took two and Nirmal Gurung took one.

The win lifted Madhesh to the top of the table with five points from three matches. Lumbini are on three points from three matches.

Sudur Paschim Province registered a commanding seven‑wicket win over Koshi Province at Birgunj. The second win earned them four points from three matches and lifted them to fourth position.

Opting to field first, Sudur Paschim bowled out Koshi for just 130 in 43.4 overs. In reply, Sudur Paschim chased down the modest target in just 19.5 overs, finishing at 131 for 3.

Khadak Bohora stole the show with a blistering 66 off 45 balls, smashing nine fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 146.

Thagunna remained unbeaten on 25, while Lokendra Chand added six not out to see Sudur Paschim home comfortably.

Bipin Mahato picked up two wickets and Gyanendra Shrestha took one as the rest of Koshi’s bowlers failed to deliver and Sudur Paschim cruised to victory with 181 balls to spare.

Earlier, Koshi’s batting never found momentum, with opener Suman Shrestha grinding out 24 from 89 balls and Shiwash Bajgain adding 25.

Dipesh Kandel’s 20, Shakib Haq’s 15 and Firdosh Ansari’s 18 were other notable contributions for Koshi as wickets fell regularly.

Hemant Dhami produced a brilliant spell with the ball, picking 4 for 26 in his nine overs, and was adjudged Player of the Match. Kiran Thagunna chipped in with two wickets, whereas Narayan Joshi and Saurya Shrestha claimed one wicket apiece.

Koshi suffered their third consecutive loss and stay in ninth place with one point.