Holder Thames registered an empathetic 52 run win over IMS while KCMIT toiled hard to beat KIST by one run to book ticket for the quarterfinals. [break]
In the curtain raiser, host Thames opted to bat first after winning the toss and made 146/7 in the allotted 20 overs. In its run chase, IMS was restricted for 92 runs.
Eraj Shrestha of host hammered 58 off 43 deliveries remaining undefeated which included five fences and a six. Shrestha was declared the man-of-the-match. Baibhav Raj Joshi scored 15 runs off 19 balls while host lost other batsmen cheaply.
Sushil Devkota of IMS claimed three wickets, Pukar Gautam pocketed two and Puspa Joshi took one wicket.
Kishor Sapkota scored 18 and Arop Adhikari 17 runs for IMS. Other batsmen could not make significant contribution. Ashisman Singh and Pujan Shrestha took three scalps each to shape Thames victory. Prakash Ojha got two wickets and Eraj Shrestha got one.
In another thrilling match, KCMIT was invited to bat first and scored 165 runs losing all the wickets in 19 overs. Bikram Tiwari, who was declared the man-of-the-match, scored 57 runs off 44 ball and Subash Chapagain was unbeaten on 13 runs Manoj Rawal and Pratik GC scored 11 each.
Laxman Chapagain claimed highest four wickets for KIST while Sushit Gurung and Satkar Thapa took two wickets each.
Chasing the target, KIST could manage only 164 for 6 in the allotted over. Puraskar Shah was unbeaten on 49 runs while Pravesh Shrestha (37) and Sushit Gurung (19) contributed for KIST.
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