Maruti Suzuki defeated Arihant Group in a thrilling match by seven runs to continue its winning streak in all three matches of the round robin league. Despite losing the match, Arihant Group also advanced into the final as the runner-up. [break]
Besides Maruti Suzuki, the remaining three teams -- Arihant Group, Bagmati Chargers Bhairahawa and RMC Yodha Birgunj -- were tied on two points each but Arihant made it to the final with better run rate.
In the first match played at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Maruti Suzuki was invited to bat first by Arihant Group after winning the toss. Arihant Group restricted Maruti Suzuki on 113 runs off 19.4 overs.
Rohit Sharma was the highest scorer for Maruti Suzuki with 44 runs off 49 balls with six boundaries. Skipper Hitesh Dalmiya scored 18 runs while Summit Sharma scored 16 runs. Arihant Group gave away 14 runs as extras.
Manish Kothari, Gaurav Srthia, Arun Bihani and Sambhu Rathi grabbed two wickets each.
Chasing the low target of 114 runs, Arihant Group bundled out with 106 runs in 19.3 overs. Amol Sharma and Naveen Jain grabbed three wickets each while Summit Sharma took two wickets.
Skipper of Arihant Group Pankaj Parakh Pawan was the highest scorer with 18 runs. Rohit Jajodia (15), Abhishek Agrawal (12) and Arihand Baid (10) were the other batsmen who reached double figure margin. Arihant Group received 16 runs as extras.
“Our tight bowling helped us achieve the victory,” said Hitesh Dalmiya, skipper of Maruti Suzuki.
“Now we are looking forward to lifting the title,” he added.
Paras Luniya, skipper of Arihant Group, said that the middle order batsmen failed to perform well. “We bowled well in the first innings but our middle order batsmen did not play as expected.”
In another match of the day, a century from skipper Jay Prakash Sarraf helped RMC Yodha register a 67-run victory over Bagmati Chargers. Winning the toss, RMC Yodha posted a huge total of 197 runs losing three wickets.
Skipper Sarraf was unbeaten on 109 runs off 63 balls with 15 boundaries and three huge sixes. Opener Sarraf and Mahesh Jatia shared a 107-run partnership for the first wicket. Jatia (30) was bowled by Manish Garg in the last ball of the 13th over.
Sarraf again shared a 52-run partnership with former national captain Pawan Agrawal for the second wicket. Agrawal was run out by Garg with 19 runs off 15 balls. Dinesh Agrawal grabbed another wicket for Bagmati Chargers.
Chasing the huge target of 198 runs, Bagmati Chargers were restricted to 130 runs in 17.4 overs. Sumit Kadmiya grabbed four wickets while Pritam Agrawal took three wickets.
Rahul Agrawal was the highest scorer for the losing team with 35 runs off 15 balls. Sunil Sethia scored 26 runs off 27 balls. Bagmati Chargers received 20 runs as extras.
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