NPC extends winning run to eight; Madhesh defeats Sudurpashchim

KATHMANDU: Nepal Police Club (NPC) extended its winning streak to eight consecutive matches with a 44-run victory over Karnali Province in the PM Cup Men’s National Tournament on Tuesday.

The victory secured a spot in the final for the departmental side.

Batting first at the Lamahi Cricket Ground in Dang, NPC was bowled out for 147 runs in 48 overs – its lowest first-inning total in the tournament so far. However, it successfully defended the score, dismissing Karnali for 103 runs in 24 overs.

Only four NPC batsmen reached double figures on Tuesday. Arjun Saud (36) and Dilip Nath (34) were the top scorers, while Sagar Dhakal remained unbeaten on 22 and Sarwan Yadav contributed 11. For Karnali, Anuj Chanara took four wickets, Diwan Pun claimed three, while Dinesh Adhikari, Dipendra Rawat and Sunil Dhamala grabbed a wicket each.

In reply, Karnali collapsed for 103 runs in 24 overs as only two batsmen reached double digits. Opener Rabindra Shahi top-scored with 49 off 32 balls, while Arjun Gharti made 30 off 42. Three Karnali batsmen were dismissed for ducks. Lalit Ranjanshi was the star bowler for NPC with six wickets. He was supported by Sagar Dhakal (2) and Karan KC (1).

Madhesh Province vs Sudurpaschim Province

Madhesh Province registered their third victory in the PM Cup with a 44-run win over Sudurpaschim Province on Tuesday.

Batting first at the ExtraTech Oval, Madhesh was bowled out for just 102 runs after a top-order collapse. Pradip Paswan’s unbeaten 23 and Pawan Sarraf’s 19 off 46 balls provided some respectability to the total after Madhesh had slumped to 44/7 in 19.4 overs. Rupesh Singh and Dipesh Das contributed 12 runs each, while other batsmen failed to reach double figures.

For Sudurpaschim, Hemant Dhami and Sher Malla took four wickets apiece, with Narayan Joshi and Bikash Aagri claiming one each.

Sudurpaschim fared even worse with the bat, collapsing to 58 all out while chasing 103. Five of their batsmen fell for ducks, with Hemant Dhami’s 19 off 33 balls being the only double-digit score. Saurya Shrestha remained unbeaten on 8, while captain Narayan Joshi and Bikash Aagri contributed 6 runs each.

Bishal Patel claimed six wickets for Madhesh, while Pradip Paswan grabbed three and Rupesh Singh had a wicket to his name.