ATTARIYA, May 9: Rising Cricket Women has lifted the title of the Ruslan Attariya Cup Women's T20 Cricket Tournament defeating Armed Police Force (APF) by 16 runs in the final on Tuesday.
Champion Rising bagged a purse of Rs 200,000 while the runner-up APF took home Rs 100,000.
APF, Rising to vie for Attariya Cup title
In the final played at APF's cricket ground, Attariya, the Kathmandu-based outfit Rising won the toss and decided to bat first before making a total of 152 runs losing five wickets in 20 overs. Foreign recruits
Pooja Nimavat and Shahnaz Prabin who came as openers gave a solid start to the innings making 37 and 25 runs respectively. Indian all-rounder Pooja smashed four boundaries facing 38 balls while Bangladeshi batswoman Shanaz hit three boundaries off 25 balls. To help the winning side make a respectable total, Shampa Mukherjee contributed 23 runs with the help of four boundaries facing 18 balls while unbeaten Smanit Khatiwada stroked 21 runs hitting three boundaries off 14 balls.
Departmental side APF's Sarita Magar claimed three wickets while Karuna Bhandari added two more wickets.
In reply, APF was out for 136 runs losing nine wickets in 20 overs. Skipper Jyoti Pandey gave a positive start to APF's innings making the highest 48 runs, She hit five boundaries facing 42 balls.
Sarita Magar, who came to bat at number three, contributed 21 runs, smashing two boundaries off 21 balls before getting caught in leg before wicket in Pooja Nimavat's delivery. Likewise, Karuna Bhandari made 24 runs with the help of five boundaries facing 20 balls. Meanwhile, APF's middle-order batswomen collapse cost dear for the team. Rising's Pooja, who was the pick of the bowlers, sent APF's other three batswomen to the pavilion including Binu Budha Magar (5), Ritu Kanaujia (8) and Mamata Chaudhary (5) to prevent the departmental side from reaching the target. Similarly, Shahnaz Prabin and Kriti Sen Thakuri claimed one wicket each.
Meanwhile, Rising's Pooja Nimavat was declared the woman-of-the-series for scoring 107 runs and taking 11 wickets throughout the tournament and received Rs 25,000. Similarly, Shampa Mukherjee of the same team was announced as the best wicketkeeper while APF's Jyoti Pandey and Sarita Magar were announced as best batswoman and bowler respectively. Each of them were awarded Rs 10,000.