The semifinal between Bhairahawa and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur was abandoned due to rain on Sunday. As per the tournament regulation, Bhairahawa, which had collected more points than Nepalgunj in the group stage, qualified for the final. Nepalgunj had elected to bat and put up 54/5 in 12.4 overs before rain stopped play. [break]
Laxmi Chaudhary was unbeaten on 18 runs off 34 balls. Sudha Thapa had claimed two wickets while Saiyya Gurung had taken a wicket for Bhairahawa.
In the first semifinal, Kajol Shrestha and Sanjhana Budhathoki put up a brilliant batting performance to seal a 53-run victory for Biratnagar over defending champion Janakpur.
Electing to bat first, Biratnagar put up 137/2 in the allotted 25 overs. Opener Roshana Rai (8 runs off 21 balls) and No 3 Sangita Rai (8 runs off 15 balls) were dismissed early but another opener Shrestha and Budhathoki added an unbeaten 93 runs for the third wicket. Shrestha remained unbeaten on 50 runs off 71 balls with four boundaries while Budhathoki scored an unbeaten 39 runs off 45 balls with three boundaries. Janakpur gave away 32 runs as extras. Anuradha Chaudhary and Shanti Chaudhary claimed a wicket each for Janakpur.
Chasing the total, Janakpur was all out for 84 runs in 21.1 overs. Saraswati Chaudhary scored 17 runs off 27 balls but the rest of the batswomen failed to reach double figures. Had Biratnagar not bowled 25 extras, Janakpur would have suffered a more humiliating defeat.
Yanji Sherpa and player-of-the-match Budhathoki took two wickets each while Shabnam Rai, Sapana Shrestha and Sangita Rai claimed a wicket each. Three batswomen of Janakpur were run-out.
The final match will be played at the TU Cricket Ground on Monday.
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