Bagmati, Madhesh register wins in PM Cup

KATHMANDU: Bagmati and Madhesh provinces won their respective matches of the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.

Bagmati defeated Koshi by seven wickets with 41 overs remaining, while Madhesh defeated Gandaki by 18 runs under the DLS method in the match affected by the rain.

Bagmati vs Koshi
Batting first in Match No. 32 in Janakpur, Koshi folded for paltry 99 runs in 28.2 overs as Bagmati Captain Sandeep Lamichhane claimed five wickets for 33 runs. Bagmati chased down the target of 100 runs, losing three wickets in just nine overs.

Koshi had a disappointing outing with the bat as only four of their batters reached double digits. Captain Sujan Thapaliya top-scored for the side, scoring 21 off 42 balls, while Ankit Subedi made 19, Rohan Shah contributed 18, and Shiwash Bajgain chipped in with 10 runs.

Lamichhane bowled a superb spell of 5/33 in 7.2 overs to bundle our Koshi cheaply. Rijan Dhakal claimed two wickets, while Pratis GC and Ishan Pandey picked up one each.

Although Bagmati stuttered in the chase as they were down 2/17 inside three overs, Ringzin Lama and Bibek Magar steadied the innings. Ringzin scored 17 off 16, while Bibek scored an unbeaten 61 off just 28 balls. He struck 10 fours and two towering sixes in his aggressive knock. Pratis GC scored a not out 17 off five balls.

Bipin Mahato picked up two wickets for Koshi, while Gyanendra Shretha claimed one.

Madhesh vs Gandaki
Batting first in Match No. 33, reduced to 35 overs due to rain, Madhesh scored 172 runs in 34.5 overs. In reply, Gandaki fell short of the revised target of 99 runs in 22 overs by 18 runs.

Although Madhesh lost opener Niraj Yadav for a duck, the second-wicket pair of Mayan Yadav and Captain Anil Sah added 64 runs. Yadav scored 43 off 32 balls, while Sah made a 63-ball 43. Pawan Saraf scored 11, and Bishal Patel made 18 before Bishal Shusling scored an unbeaten 40 off 49 balls to take the score past 170.

Aprajit Poudel and Subash Bhandari picked up three wickets each for Gandaki, while Ankit Neupane, Cibrin Shretha, and Kamal Pariyar contributed a wicket each.

Chasing a revised target of 99 runs from 22 balls, Gandaki lost their top order batters cheaply except for opener Arjun Kumal, who remained not out with 49 runs from 65 balls. However, he did not find support from the other end. Deepak Dumre (13) was the only other batter who reached double digits for Gandaki. Gandaki could make only 80 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Bishal Patel, Ranjit Kumar, Aashik Baitha, and Mohammad Aaadil Alam claimed a wicket each for Madhesh.