Region No 3 Kathmandu lifted the Springwood National League Cricket Tournament title after emerging the winner of an epic battle with defending champions Region No 4 Bhairahawa at the TU Cricket Ground on Sunday.
The final was decided on the last ball with Bhairahawa felling by just a run. Requiring 169 in 36 overs for victory on a revised target, Bhairahawa ended at 167/9. Kathmandu had earlier scored 199 in 49.3 overs.
It was some terrific batting from the tail-enders that put Bhairahawa back on the track after the match looked dead for them at 136/9 with five overs to go. But No 10 Mohan Thapa attacked the bowling and netted 29 runs off 27 balls with a four and a six, but his efforts went in vain after he could not get four in last two balls.
Having gone into the last over with eight required, Mohan and last man Faizal Khan ran a run each on first four balls bowled by Paras Khadka. The fifth ball was a straight fuller that Mohan could only defend back to Paras. On the last ball, the team needed four to win but he could only get a two as Kathmandu players roared around the ground in celebration after winning the title for the first time in fourth final.
Before Mohan’s heroics, it was Rahul Biswokarma who scored 36 in 37 balls with two fours and a six to take his team near the required total. After the top order failed to get good runs. Among seven top order batsmen, only Shakti Gauchan (24), Antim Thapa (21) and Bijaya Thapa (19) got to double figure while four other totaled 16 runs.
It was Pramod Basnet who pegged Bhairahawa early by getting two openers in between of which Bijaya slipped while running to get run-out. Left-arm spinner Raju Basnet too got two in the middle while Sarad took two vital wickets – of Shakti and Rahul to simmer Bhairahawa hopes of becoming only second team after Biratnagar to defend the title.
“Rain played the spoilsport,†Bhairahawa captain Shakti said. The match was played on overcast condition and was stopped after three overs of Bhairahawa for rainfall and the target revised.
Earlier, Kathmandu’s decision to bat first proved a good one as their top order batted well. Captain Paresh Lohani and Dipendra Chaudhary added 43 as openers with Dipendra scoring 35 off 48 balls. Sarad got 44 off 81 balls and Gyanendra Malla topscored with 60 off 92 balls. Together, Sarad and Gyanendra added 91 runs for third wicket and took Kathmandu to a competitive total.
Paras’s late assault of 18 off 17 with two sixes and Pramod’s 10 took them to 199 in 49.3 overs. All Kathmandu wickets went to spinners with Basant Regmi taking three, Shakti and Rahul claiming two each.
Kathmandu received Rs 75,000 as the winners while Bhairahawa took home Rs 40,000. National Sports Council member secretary Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Surya Nepal’s vice-president Shyam Roy and Cricket Association of Nepal president Binaya Raj Pandey gave away the prizes to the winners.
Top Performers
Man of the Series: Shakti Gauchan (RN4 Bhairahawa) – Rs 15,000
Best Batsman: Paresh Lohani (RN3 Kathmandu) – Rs 10,000
Best Bowler: Mehboob Alam (RN1 Biratnagar) – Rs 10,000
| Round | Final |
| Toss won by | Kathmandu |
| Umpires | Mangilal Sharma & Sirish Upadhyay |
| Scorers | Dhiraj Gyawali & Raman Siwakoti |
| Player / Match | Veshwakar, Sarad |
| Awards | Man of the Series: Shakti Gauchan Best Batsman: Paresh Lohani Best Bowler: Mehboob Alam |
| Points Awarded | Kathmandu 3, Bhairahawa 0 |
| Kathmandu Innings 199 All Out (Overs 49.3) |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| P Lohani* | c B Regmi | b S Gauchan | 10 | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| D Chaudhary+ | run out Bijaya Thapa | 35 | 48 | 4 | 1 | |
| S Veshwakar | c&b S Gauchan | 44 | 81 | 2 | 1 | |
| G Malla | c M Vhaishya | b B Regmi | 60 | 92 | 2 | 1 |
| P Khadka | c A Gupta | b B Regmi | 18 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| R Basnet | c&b R BK | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| P Shakya | run out A Gupta | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| P Basnet | st M Vhaishya | b R BK | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Rom Shrestha | lbw | b B Regmi | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| A Rana | run out R BK | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| R Shrestha | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| extras | (b0 lb4 w10 nb0) | 14 | ||||
| TOTAL | 10 wickets for | 199 | ||||
| FOW1-43(P Lohani) 2-51(D Chaudhary) 3-142(S Veshwakar) 4-166(P Khadka) 5-171(R Basnet)6-175(P Shakya) 7-190(G Malla) 8-194(P Basnet) 9-198(A Rana) 10-199(Rom Shrestha) |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | wd | nb |
| A Bhattarai | 7 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 7 | – |
| F Khan | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | – | – |
| M Thapa | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | – | – |
| S Gauchan | 10 | 1 | 29 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Bijaya Thapa | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | – |
| B Regmi | 9.3 | 0 | 50 | 3 | 1 | – |
| R BK | 10 | 0 | 42 | 2 | – | – |
| S Khadka | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | – | – |
| Bhairahawa Innings 167/9 (Overs 36) (Revised Target: 169 in 36 overs) |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| B Regmi | lbw | b P Basnet | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| M Vhaishya+ | c G Malla | b P Basnet | 4 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Bijaya Thapa | run out R Shrestha | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| A Thapa | c P Basnet | b R Basnet | 21 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| S Gauchan* | lbwb S Veshwakar | 24 | 41 | 1 | 1 | |
| A Gupta | run out R Shrestha | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| S Khadka | c P Khadka | b R Basnet | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| R BK | c P Basnet | b S Veshwakar | 36 | 37 | 2 | 1 |
| A Bhattarai | c P Lohani | b R Shrestha | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| M Thapa | not out | 29 | 26 | 1 | 1 | |
| F Khan | not out | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| extras | (b2 lb4 w9 nb0) | 15 | ||||
| TOTAL | 9 wickets for | 167 | ||||
| FOW1-7(B Regmi) 2-30(Bijaya Thapa) 3-36(M Vhaishya) 4-64(A Thapa) 5-70(A Gupta)6-79(S Khadka) 7-115(S Gauchan) 8-118(A Bhattarai) 9-136(R BK) |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | wd | nb |
| A Rana | 7 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 1 | – |
| P Basnet | 7 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 2 | – |
| P Khadka | 8 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 2 | – |
| R Basnet | 5 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 2 | – |
| S Veshwakar | 6 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 2 | – |
| R Shrestha | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 2 | – |