Region No 4 Bhairahawa entered the semifinal of the Wai Wai Under-19 National Cricket Tournament with a 96-run victory over Region No 5 Nepalgunj here at the TU Cricket Ground.
Nepalgunj with the second successive loss crashed out of the tournament and will be heading home. The other team in the Group A of the six-region tournament Region No 3 Kathmandu also ensured a place in the semifinal. The match to decide the group winner will be played on Sunday.
Bhairahawa scored 156 runs in 41.5 overs after electing to bat first. Akash Gupta contributed with 35 runs while captain Antim Thapa got 28 and Sagar Khadka chipped in 19. It was Sandeep Shrestha who did the best for Nepalgunj taking four wickets for 33 runs.
Nepalgunj bowling was wayward as they gave away 35 extras including 30 wides.
Nepalgunj’s reply was wrecked by Amrit Bhattarai and Lal B Adhikari. Both the left-armer took three wickets each as Nepalgunj were bowled out for mere 60 runs in 31.5 overs. Fast bowler Amrit was chosen man of the match.
Mahesh Chhetri was the only batsman who was somewhat successful to resist Bhairahawa bowling scoring 22 runs while five of his teammates failed to open the accounts.
Brief Score: Bhairahawa 156 all out in 41.5 overs (Aakash Gupta 35, Antim Thapa 28, Sandeep Shrestha 4/33) defeated Nepalgunj 60 all out in 31.5 overs (Mahesh Chhetri 22, Lal B Adhikari 3/12, Amrit Bhattarai 3/13) by 96 runs.