KATHMANDU, April12: Region No. 5 Baitadi beat region No.1 Biratnagar by 28 runs to win the women’s cricket title at the ongoing Fifth National Games. In the match—which was held at Birendra Sainik Awasiy School, Bhaktapur, on Sunday—Baitadi elected to bat first after winning the toss.[break]
Baitadi’s Maya Rawat topped all batswomen, with a knock of 51 runs; Rachita Ojha scored an unbeaten 45 runs off 47 deliveries; and Janaki Bhatta added another 35 runs off 21 deliveries, as Baitadi accumulated 155 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing only three wickets.
Biratnagar’s bowlers Rubina Chhetrai, Dikshya Khanal and Ambika Budhathoki took one wicket each.
When Biratnagar were put into bat, their players started the run chase very cautiously and the team didn’t lose many wickets. But that cautious approach backfired on them, as they couldn’t increase their run-scoring pace, and the team could muster only 127 runs in 20 overs, losing 2 wickets.
Rashmi Sharma did score an unbeaten 40 runs for Biratnagar, but that knock was not enough to garner a win for Biratnagar. The other notable performers for the losing side were their openers, Ambika Budhthoki and Jyoti Pandey, who scored 31 and 26 runs, respectively. Baitadi’s Janaki Bhatta and Ritu Kanaujia scalped one wicket each.
When the finals ended, Baitadi’s top scorer, Maya Rawat, was adjudged the player of the match; Manisha Rawal was adjudged the best batswoman of the tournament (she scored 110 runs in 5 matches, with an average of 36.66); Nepalgunj’s skipper Nary Thapa was declared the best bowler of the tournament (Thapa took 16 wickets in the tournament, with an economy rate of 3.25 in 5 matches); and Roshani Sharma was adjudged the player of the tournament for her all-round performance (Sharma scored 153 runs in 6 matches and took 4 wickets).
The awards for the batswoman- and bowler- of the tournament were determined on the basis of the players’ performances in league matches only.
Bhairahawan takes bronze in men´s
Meanwhile, Region No 4 Bhairahawa took the bronze medal defeating Region No 2 BIrgunj by 27 runs at the LAB School Ground.
Electing to bat first, Bhairahawa scored 146 in 35.5 overs - thanks to unbeaten 63 by captain Shakti Gauchan. Man of the match Kumar Thapa took five wickets to restrict Bhairahawa. In reply, Birgunj 119 in 37.5 overs despite Anil Mandal´s 49. Vijay Thapa and Rahul Kumar BK each took three wickets.
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