Man of the match Basanta Regmi scored a half century and took two wickets to guide Region No 4 Bhairahawa to a 60-run win over Region No 6 Baitadi in the Birendra Memorial National League cricket tournament at the TU Cricket Ground today.
Bhairahawa scored 208/6 before restricting Baitadi to 148/9. A record opening stand of 116 runs between Basanta and Navin Gurung in 25 overs gave Bhairahawa a good platform after skipper Raju Khadka elected to bat.
Basant Regmi receives man of the match award from Pradeep Karki.
Photo: Deepak Gaule
The left-hander hit five boundaries and a towering six in 75 balls for his 52 while his partner Navin faced 82 deliveries for his 52 before running himself out. They bettered the 93-run stand between Mehboob Alam and Asish Lama set last year.
The departure of the openers in space of five runs put brakes on Bhairahawa scoring as Shakti Gauchan took time to settle down while skipper Khadka, on a comeback trial, did not last long and was bowled out for six runs. Amit Shrestha made 32 runs and featured in an important 53-run fourth wicket partnership with Shakti, who scored 25 runs.
Bhairawa amassed 208/6 in the allotted 45 overs. It was a difficult day for Baitadi bowlers. Subash Khatri and Arjun Rawal with two wickets each were the only bowlers to taste success.
In reply, Baitadi made a steady start scoring 41 in 10 overs without loss. But Shakti, with his left arm floaters, became the headache for them afterwards. After the opening bowlers, Raju and Dipesh Khatri, finished their first spells wicket-less, Shakti struck twice in two overs to reduce Baitadi to 49/2. Shakti later trapped Prem Chaudhary leg before to put his team on the driver’s seat.
Slow bowlers did the trick for last year’s finalists as Basanta and Bijaya Thapa grabbed a couple of wickets. Medium pacer Prajjwal Dixit also got a couple. Basanta and Bijay also contributed taking spectacular catches to dismiss skipper Dhirendra Chand and Rajendra Chand respectively.
Despite the slump, the last pair of Samsher Chand (22) and Subash Khatri gave reasons to cheer for the spectators with a record last wicket stand of 45 runs playing out the full overs. Their last wicket effort broke the earlier best of 30 runs by Pramod Basnet and Kalam Ali two years back.