KATHMANDU, May 31: Western Region kept its semifinal hope alive in the 1st Prime Minister Cup One Day national Cricket Tournament beating Central Region by 95 runs in its second group stage match on Wednesday.
West, which had faced defeat at the hands of Armed Police Force (APF) in its first group A match on Monday, will take on Mid-west in the last group match. The win against Mid-west on Thursday will keep West in strong position to advance to last four but producing otherwise result means, it will have to depend on other results.
In the match played at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, West was put to bat first after losing the toss. It made a total of 202 runs losing eight wickets. West bowled out Central Region for 107 runs in 40.3 overs.
West couldn't make positive start to the innings as it lost its opener Nurdhoj Sen for just three runs as he got bowled out in Kishore Mahato's delivery. However, the 43-run partnership between opener Anil Gurung and Bidhan Shrestha for third wicket laid the foundation to make a respectable total.
Hope is which will keep us alive
Anil contributed 28 runs hitting one six and three boundaries off 68 balls while Bidhan stroked 18 runs facing 44 balls. Player-of-the-match Saurav Khanal made the highest 78 runs smashing six sixes and three boundaries facing 58 balls and remaining not out.
Saurav who came to bat at seventh number also built up a 52-run partnership with skipper Antim Thapa for the sixth wicket and 51-run partnership with Krishna Karki for seventh wicket. Antim and Krishna contributed 34 and 15 runs respectively.
Kishore was Central Region's pick for bowling as he pocketed 3-42 in 10 overs. He was supported by Nandan Yadav who took 2-21 in equal overs. Likewise, skipper Sharad Vesawkar and Sashi Kesari added one wicket each.
Meanwhile, West's bowlers displaying impressive performance limited Central Region to a low score. Lal Adhikari and Rohit pocketed three wickets each while Bipin Khatri claimed two wickets. Likewise, Krishna Karki added another.
Central Region failed to make strong start to the inning with its openers Bhupendra Thapa and Ishan Pandey building a partnership of 13 runs for the first wicket. Bhupendra made six runs off 19 balls while Ishan stroked 24 runs facing 48 balls. Similarly, Sashi Kesari made 20 runs remaining not out before getting dismissed in Rohit Kumar Paudel's deliveries. Likewise, Sonu Tamang (1) and Nandan Yadav (8) also were sent to pavilion in Rohit's deliveries. Except Ishan, skipper Vesawkar (7) and Sumit Maharjan (10) also were dismissed in Lal's deliveries.
