Region No 5 Nepalgunj survived late pressure to register a four-wicket victory over Region No 2 Birgunj in the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament at TU Cricket Ground on Monday.
After bowling out Birgunj for 84 runs in 40.2 overs, Nepalgunj made a good start scoring 57/1 going into lunch break. But Birgunj emerged rejuvenated and bowled brilliantly to force opponents toil for each run. But they had little chance of defending the lowly target and Nepalgunj achieved it in 26.1 overs losing only six wickets.
Sahid Riza hit four off Suraj Timilsina at point to complete the victory leaving the group wide open as Birgunj is yet to play Bhairahawa, who defeated Nepalgunj on Saturday, in the last league match of the group.
Chhetri siblings Ganesh and Mahesh gave Nepalgunj a good start after Subendu Pandey was out first ball he faced in the second over. Mahesh and Ganesh added 48 runs for second wickets. Ganesh was out immediately after lunch on 18 off 45 balls while Mahesh followed soon after on 29 off 41 balls.
Amir Sohail claimed both wickets and also got captain Anoopam Singh as Nepalgunj surged to 69/5. Sahid ensured the victory playing patiently for 12 off 23 balls with two fours. Sanjog Karn and Amit Alok claimed a wicket each for Birgunj.
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Earlier, Anoopam elected to field first and his bowlers justified his decision. Birgunj lost wickets regularly and never looked building any partnership. They were down to 68/9 in 34 overs and 16-run partnership between Aakash Pariyar (15*) and Sanjog Karn (3) took them to 84. Aakash was the top scorer while no other batsman reached the double figure.
For Nepalgunj, Sahid returned with best bowling figure of 3/12 in 10 overs while Naseer Ansari, Naveen Shahi and Subendu Pandey each took two wickets. On Tuesday, Region No 1 Biratnagar takes on Region No 3 Kathmandu.
Brief Score: Birgunj 84 in 40.2 overs (A Pariyar 15*, S Riza 3/12, S Pandey 2/11, N Shahi 2/18, N Ansari 2/23) lost to Nepalgunj 88/6 in 26.1 overs (M Chhetri 29, G Chhetri 18, A Sohail 3/6) by four wickets.