Himalayan registered a 54-run victory over Lord Buddha Cricket Club and APF edged past Pulchowk Engineering Campus by 32 runs.
Put to bat first after losing the toss, Himalayan was bundled out for 154 runs with two balls to spare. Openers Bhupendra Thapa (22 off 12), also the skipper, and Shakti Bhandari (20 off 25) gave fine start to the Himalayan innings. Amar Singh Rautela (24) and Abinash Adhikari (22) also came up with remarkable contributions.
Prasoon Thapa and Satendra Joshi bagged three wickets apiece for Lord Buddha and Abhises Thapa took two.
In the run chase, none of the Lord Buddha batsmen, except openers Somyog Dhala (18) and Sujan Thapaliya (35) reached double-digit figure, as they were bowled out for 100 runs at the close.
Abinash did not only shine with bat for Himalayan, but was equally efficient in bowling. He bagged three wickets in his three-over spell conceding 20 runs. Abinash was later named the player-of-the-match. Ashish Pokharel and Sher Singh Khatri shared two wickets each.
In another match, opener Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Aire shared 72-run partnership for the second wicket as APF posted 130-run target for the loss of four wickets. Pradeep topscored 46 runs-a-ball while Subash played a patient knock scoring 21 runs off 41 balls. Aarif Sheikh remained unbeaten on 34 runs and was named player-of-the-match.
Suman Sah bagged two wickets for Pulchowk which could manage only 97/6 at the close. Opener Gaurav Khadka tried to give some resistance to Pulchowk innings, scoring 55 runs off 63 deliveries. He, however, failed to get the desired support from the other end. Milan Shrestha (10) was the only other batsman to reach double-digit figure.
Basanta Regmi pocketed three wickets for the winning team followed by one each from Aarif Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane and Shankar Rawal.
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