Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) secured a spot in the final of the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament with a four-wicket victory over Nepal Police Club (NPC) on Thursday.
Batting first at the ExtraTech Oval in Rupandehi, NPC was all out for 148 runs in 41.4 overs. TAC chased down the target in 41 overs.
This was NPC’s first loss in the tournament. TAC will now meet NPC in the final of the PM Cup on Saturday.
Although NPC lost its top three wickets cheaply, Aarif Sheikh (22) and Captain Dipendra Singh Airee steadied the innings. Airee scored a 37-ball 50. However, he did not receive support from the other end as Dilip Nath and Karan KC fell for ducks, and Rashid Khan and Lalit Rajbanshi scored 3 each. Gulshan Jha and Sagar Dhakal contributed 17 and 16 runs, respectively.
Shahab Alam grabbed four wickets for TAC, while Naren Saud claimed three, and Kushal Malla and Bhim Sharki chipped in with a wicket each.
TAC chased down the small target with ease, even though it lost wickets at regular intervals. Trit Raj Das (25), Santosh Karki (22), Bhim Sharki (23), and Basir Ahamad (12) contributed valuable runs for TAC before Bibek Yadav remained unbeaten on 41 off 45 balls to take TAC home. Captain Binod Bhandari remained not out on 13.
Lalit Rajbanshi claimed four wickets for NPC, while Captain Airee and Karan KC took one wicket each.
Madhesh Province vs Bagmati Province
Bagmati finished fourth in the table despite facing a four-wicket defeat against Madhesh Province at the Siddhartha Cricket Ground.
Batting first, Bagmati scored 259 runs for the loss of eight wickets. In reply, Madhesh reached 263/6 with 23 balls to spare.
Although Bagmati lost opener Ashutosh Ghiraiya (1) early in the innings, Ishan Pandey played a magnificent knock, scoring 114 off 127 balls to take Bagmati to a formidable total. Rijan Dhakal and Bibek Magar scored 30 each, while Bipin Acharya contributed 27. Shubh Kansakar and Gautam KC chipped in with 20 and 10 runs, respectively.
Harishankar Shaha, Pawan Sarraf, and Anil Sah claimed two wickets each for Madhesh, while Rupesh Singh and Bishal Patel grabbed one wicket each.
In reply, Madhesh added 62 runs for the first wicket as Rohan BK scored 39 and Shailendra Sah contributed 16. Harishankar Shaha (33) and Pawan Sarraf (31) laid a solid foundation for Captain Anil Sah to play an aggressive knock of 70* off 53 balls. Rupesh Singh remained unbeaten on 25, while Dipesh Das and Bishal Patel contributed 19 and 13 runs, respectively, for Madhesh.
Surya Tamang grabbed two wickets for Bagmati, while Rijan Dhakal, Gautam KC, Bipin Acharya, and Ishan Pandey took one wicket each.
