KATHMANDU, Jan 11: Departmental teams Nepal Police Club and Tribhuvan Army Club made winning starts to the Second Ruslan Cup 2073 cricket tournament that kicked off on Tuesday at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur.
Police earned a comfortable 81-run victory over Himalayan Cricket Academy while Army earned nine-wicket win over New Rising Star.
Sunil Dhmala top scored 54 runs for Police as it scored a mammoth total of 183/6 at close after electing to bat first and bowled out Himalayan for 102 runs with two balls to spare. Opener Sunil, also the-man-of-the-match, cracked three fours and two sixes in his knock of 56 balls before he was run out by Pawan Karki. He reached 50-run mark in 54 balls. He played a 61-run stand for the first wicket with Dilip Nath who contributed 26 runs off 25 balls.
Kushal Bhurtel was the other batsman for Police to come up with notable contribution of unbeaten 33 runs facing 11 deliveries. He quickfired three fences and three sixes.
Himalayan bowlers Kamal Airee, Prakash Bista, Avinash Adhikari, Arun Airee and Pawan Karki grabbed one wicket each.
In the run chase, opener Dipendra Thapa alone contributed 73 runs off 59 deliveries for Himalayan. He however, did not get the deserving support from the other end as none other batsmen managed to reach double figure. He hit eight fours and three sixes in the match and reached half century in just 35 balls. He was run out by Dipendra Airee.
Police's Aarif Seikh claimed three wickets in his four-over spell giving away 10 runs. Dipendra grabbed two wickets.
In another match, electing to bat first New Rising Star was bowled out for 87 runs in 18.3 overs. Opener Sushant Singh Thapa and Rabindra Jung Shahi scored 18 runs apiece. Similarly, Sujan Pun (13 runs) and Rabin Thapa unbeaten (14 runs) were the other batsmen to score in double digit for Himalayan.
Jitendra Mukhiya was the pick of Army bowlers as he pocketed four wickets. He conceded 17 runs in his four-over spell. Sagar Pun claimed three wickets to restrict Himalayan for the paltry total.
In the run chase, Sagar again shown with the bat scoring unbeaten 39 runs off 28 balls as Army made 90/1 in 11.1 overs. The man-of-the-match Sagar hit five fours and a six and shared 54 run stand for the first wicket with Mahesh Chhetri before the latter was sent to pavilion with 24 runs under his belt. Naresh Budhayer remained not out on 18 runs facing 16 deliveries.
Ruslan KCTC will take on Cannon Cricket Club and Royal PC Fighters will vie against Khahari Cricket Club on Wednesday's fixtures.
Easy wins for Police, Army in Ruslan cricket
