Baitadi´s total is the lowest ever made by any team in domestic tournaments. Shakti Gauchan and Mehboob Alam grabbed three wickets each for APF while Basanta Regmi and Amrit Bhattarai took two wickets each in the match played at the Engineering Ground, Pulchowk.[break]
Baitadi won the toss and opted to bat first but the decision cost the team dearly. Opener Santosh Bhatta was the only Baitadi player to reach double figures with 10 runs off 20 balls, while five of the batsmen failed to even open their accounts.
Gauchan bowled only two overs to grab three wickets, while Alam bowled four overs for his three wickets. Regmi took two wickets in just four balls.
APF reached the 26-run target in just 3.4 overs losing two wickets. Sunam Shrestha was not out on nine runs from eight balls. Binod Chhetri and Santosh Bhatta took a wicket each for Baitadi.
In another match, Region No 1 (Biratnagar) registered a thrilling two-run victory over Region No 8 (Pokhara) to stay in the second position in group B.
Winning the toss, Biratnagar scored 139 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Biratnagar did not have a good start as its openers Bibek Jha (11) and Sandeep Mishra (1) were out when the total was 16 on the board. However, a 51-run partnership between Ajay Rajbanshi and Unil Shrestha guided the team to a respectable total.
Rajbanshi scored 51 runs off 43 balls with four fours and a six, while Shrestha scored 53 runs off 44 deliveries with three huge sixes and two fours.
Dipesh Khatri took four wickets for Pokhara in his four-over spell conceding 15 runs. Amrit Shrestha took two wickets while Nischal Pandey and Dipen Lamgade took a wicket each.
Chasing 140 runs for victory, Pokhara fell short by two runs at the end of 20 overs. Shailesh Shrivastav and Rijan Prajoo gave the team a good start with a 50-run partnership. However, Pokhara´s batting line-up started to crumble after the fall of Prajoo for 30 runs off 29 balls.
Dipesh Khatri tried hard to rescue the team with 44 runs off 25 balls that included six fours and a six.
Pokhara was in need of seven runs off the last over but Biratnagar bowler Ajay Rajbanshi kept his cool and gave away only four runs to pull off a thrilling victory for his team.
Kundan Singh took three wickets in his four overs conceding 17 runs. Amit Dahal grabbed two wickets while Manoj Mandal and Rajbanshi shared a wicket each.
Meanwhile, in a lopsided affair, Nepal Police Club (NPC) defeated Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) by 63 runs at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. In the rain-affected match, NPC scored 140 runs losing only five wickets in 19 overs. Mahesh Chhetri remained not out on 44 runs off 41 balls with two fours and a six.
Earlier, Naresh Budhayer and Binod Bhandari had given a quick start to NPC. Bhandari scored a quick-fire 30 runs off 16 balls with two fours and three huge sixes, while Budhayer scored a run-a-ball 24.
Bijay Thapa, Saurabh Khanal, Lal Bahadur Adhikari and Vivek Chaudhary each took a wicket of NPC.
In reply, Bhairahawa was bowled out for 77 runs in 14.4 overs. Bhairahawa captain Antim Thapa was the highest scorer with 29 runs off 25 balls. Four of the Bhairahawa batsmen were run out while two were stumped by Chhetri.
Manjeet Shrestha and Bhuwan Karki took three wickets each while Pradeep Aire grabbed one wicket.
In another match played at the Engineering Ground, Pulchowk, Region No 2 (Birgunj) registered an eight-wicket victory over Region No 7 (Janakpur). Winning the toss, Janakpur scored 130 runs in 19.5 overs. Anil Kumar Mandal was the highest scorer with a run-a-ball 27. Kumar Thapa and Jitendra Mukhiya took two wickets each while Mohammad Hasim Ansari, Narayan Patel and Bibek Dali shared a wicket each.
Birgunj reached 134 in 17.2 overs losing only two wickets. Ansari was not out on 55 runs off 43 balls with five fours and three sixes. Amit Shrestha scored 26 runs off 18 balls with four fours and a six. Kumar Prasun and Sameer Nepal took a wicket each for Janakpur.
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