KATHMANDU, Jan 12: Spin-twin Sher Malla and Binod Lama shared nine wickets between them as Sudur Paschim Province raced to a dominating eight-wicket win against Malaysia Selection XI during the Manmohan Memorial National One-Day Cricket Tournament being played at Sunsari on Saturday.
In the first Group D match played at Inaruwa Cricket Ground, the Malaysian team was bowled out for 49 runs in 22 overs as Sudur Paschim chased down the target in 7.2 overs to secure the emphatic win. This was the second biggest chase of the MM Cup with 238 balls to spare.
Malaysia XI, making their debut in Nepal’s domestic cricket, won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the batsmen struggled to negotiate all-spin opening bowling attack from the local team. Captain Santosh Bhatta introduced left-arm spinner Binod Lama from one end and off-spinner Sher Malla from the other. Lama registered a four-wicket-haul whereas Malla went on to take five wickets to dismiss the Malaysian team under 50 runs. Left-arm pacer Bikram Thagunna picked the last solitary wicket.
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Malla registered the remarkable bowling figures of 10 overs, three maidens and conceded 11 runs to be adjudged as player-of-the-match. Lama conceded 21 runs from his nine overs.
Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh was top-scorer for the side with 22 runs which included three boundaries. He stayed at the crease for 69 deliveries before being out-foxed by Thagunna as Lokesh Bam completed the catch. Singh failed to get any support from the other end.
Bam and Khadak Bohara contributed 15 runs each as Sudur Paschim completed the chase in 7.2 overs. Bohara faced 17 deliveries and smashed three boundaries whereas Bam remained unbeaten 15 runs off seven deliveries registering three boundaries. Similarly, Gajendra Bohara and Arun Airee chipped in with 11 and 6 runs respectively.
Dhivendran Mogan and Anwar Rahman shared a consolation wicket each for the Malaysian team.
With the win, Sudur Paschim has strengthened its chances of advancing to next round. It will face Gandaki Province on Sunday. Malaysia XI will face Gandaki on Monday in its last group game.
