TAC, NPC register second wins in PM Cup

KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Nepal Police Club (NPC) won their respective matches of the PM Nepal Men’s National Cricket Tournament on Thursday.

TAC defeated Gandaki Province by seven wickets, while NPC also defeated Bagmati Province by seven wickets.

TAC vs Gandaki Province
Fielding first in Match No. 11 at the Lower Mulpani Ground in Kathmandu, TAC restricted Gandaki to 209 runs in the allotted 50 overs. They then chased down the target of 210 runs in 34 overs with seven wickets remaining.

Arjun Kumal top-scored for Gandaki, scoring 67 off 102 balls, while Deepak Dumre contributed 51 from 45 balls. However, other Gandaki batters disappointed. Krishna Poudel made 17, Cibrin Shrestha scored 14, Sandesh Panthi contributed 13, and Vansh Chhetri and Subash Bhandari made 10 each.

Aakash Chand and Shahab Alam picked up three wickets each for TAC, while Kushal Malla claimed two.

Trit Raj Das, Binod Bhandari, and Bhim Sharki made half-centuries as TAC made light work of the chase. Trit Raj and Binod added 110 runs for TAC in the first wicket. Trit Raj scored a run-a-ball 51, while Bhandari made 58 off 57 balls. Bhim Sharaki and Kushal Malla remained not out at 54 and 43, respectively.

Subash Bhandari claimed two wickets for Gandaki, while Bipin Khatri took one.

NPC vs Bagmati Province
Electing to bat first in Match No. 12 at the Mulpani Cricket Ground, Bagmati made a slow start as openers Ashutosh Ghiraiya and Shubh Kansakar fell for 22 and 14, respectively. Shivam Tiwari also made only 12. Ishan Pandey (70) and Pawan Thapa (39) are steadying the innings. However, other batters failed to build on the foundation. Uttam Magar made 21, while Captain Sandeep Lamichhane scored 13.

Rashid Khan and Dinesh Kharel took three wickets each for NPC, while Karan KC picked up two, and Lalit Rajbanshi contributed one wicket.

Shankar Rana (116) scored a brilliant century in the chase for NPC. His opening stand with Dinesh Kharel (70) added 159 runs for the first wicket. Although Dilsad Ali fell for eight, Captain Aarif Sheikh scored a not-out 43, and Rashid Khan scored an unbeaten 10 to take NPC home with 36 balls and seven wickets remaining.

Rijan Dhakal, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Subash Khatri picked up a wicket each for Bagmati.