KATHMANDU, March 1 : Departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club and Armed Police Force (APF) stormed into the semifinal of the Ruslan Cup T20 cricket tournament after empathetic wins on Tuesday at the TU cricket grounds in Kirtipur.
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Nepali international Sompal Kami shone with the ball and bat for Army as it thrashed Himalayan Cricket Academy by 70 runs. Similarly, APF registered a thumping 10-wicket victory over Cannon Cricket Club.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Army scored 130 runs losing all wickets at the close and bowled out Himalayan for 60 runs in 17.1 over.
Raju Rijal scored 26 runs off 34 balls, the highest for Army, after opener Sagar Pun made 23 runs off 24. Sompal quick-fired 23 runs off 16 deliveries for Army while Rajesh Pulami scored 23 off 16. Army was also prized with 12 extra runs.
In the run chase, only two batsmen - Dinesh Agri (20) and Abinash Adhikari (13) - reached double digit figures for Himalayan as it lost other batsmen too cheaply.
Sompal and Sagar pocketed three wickets each for Army and Avinash Karn bagged two. The man-of-the-match Sompal gave away 16 runs with a maiden over in his four-over spell. Sagar gave away 14 runs in his 3.1 overs.
In another match, Basnata Regmi and Shakti Gauchan claimed three wickets apiece to bowl Cannon out for 37 runs. In the run chase, openers Paresh Lohani (3) and Subash Khakurel (23) remained unbeaten as APF surpassed the target in 4.2 overs.
Cannon’s decision to bat first after winning the toss, backfired as five batsmen were out for a duck. Manoj Yadav (12) was the only batsman to reach double figure mark.
Man-of-the-match Basanta conceded 14 runs in his 3.4-over spell while Shakti gave away five runs in his two-over spell with a maiden over. Aarif Sheikh pocketed two wickets for APF.
