Region No 3 Kathmandu thrashed Region No 5 Nepalgunj by six wickets in the opening match of the Wai Wai Under-19 National Cricket Tournament here at the TU Cricket Ground today.
Kathmandu bowled out Nepalgunj for 72 runs in 37.1 overs and reached the target in 19 overs losing only four wickets. Prakash Thapa, who took three wickets for the winners, was adjudged man of the match.
Npealgunj batsmen found it hard to score after choosing to bat first. They lost three wickets in 3.4 overs for six runs and were put on the backfoot right through. Avaya Rana led the pace bowling attack with three wickets while Bantu Bataju took two.
It was Anupam Singh who helped Nepalgunj to post the total with valuable 27 runs in his two-hour long innings. He put 14 runs with last man Navin Shahi (8) before holding out to Paras Khadka off Bantu. Raj Shrestha took two wickets to add to Prakash’s three quick wickets.
Kathmandu lost both the openers for 27 runs but Paras played captain’s innings to avoid more blushes. He was unbeaten on 25 off 38 balls and was aided by Sunam Gautam’s 14 and Sujin Adhikari’s 11. Nepalgunj bowlers gave away 16 extra runs. Irfan Siddique took two wickets while Nasir Ansari and Mohsin Hasan each claimed one.
Earlier, president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Jai Kumar Nath Shah inaugurated the event. On Saturday, Kathmandu meets Region No 4 Bhairahawa.
Brief Scores: Nepalgunj 72 all out in 37.1 overs (Anupam Singh 27, Ganesh Chhetri 10, Prakash Thapa 3/11, Abhay Rana 3/23) lost to Kathmandu 73/4 in 19 overs (Paras Khadka 25*, Sunam Gautam 14, Irfan Siddique 2/9) by six wickets.