Region No 2 Birgunj filled in the final spot in the semifinal lineup of the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament defeating Region No 6 Baitadi by 54 runs on Thursday.
Birgunj will now play Region No 3 Kathmandu who defeated Region No 5 Nepalgunj by three wickets to finish at the top of the table of Group A. Nepalgunj plays Region No 4 Bhairahawa on other semifinal.
Electing to bat first at BSAM Ground, Birgunj scored 198 in 44.3 overs – the highest number of runs, 36, coming from extras and bowled out Baitadi for 144 in 40 overs.
Man of the match Naresh Budayar played a valiant knock of 50 off 85 balls but could not save his team from losing out. Pradeep Airee played a knock of 35 off 46 with five fours and Chandra Saud scored 26 off 41 but they were the only batsmen to score double-figure.
For Birgunj, Hasim Ansari took three wickets whereas Avinash Karn, Manish Srivastav and Bibek Dali took two wickets each.
Earlier, Birgunj benefitted from twenties from five batsmen to post a good total. Sumit Shrestha (29), Binay Kumar Shah (26), Ramji Kumar Kanu (28 not out), Kanchan Thapa (21) and No 10 Kumar Thapa (21) all contributed to the total. Chandra and Bhuwan Karki took three wickets each for Baitadi.
At TU Ground, Kathmandu outplayed Nepalgunj to finish top of the table. Electing to bat first, Nepalgunj could only manage 94 in 33.5 overs; the score Kathmandu surpassed in 31.5 overs losing seven wickets.
Rupesh Srivastav and Prithu Baskota each took three wickets while Ritesh Singh and Raman Shrestha took two wickets each to bowl out Nepalgunj cheaply. The highlight of the innings, however, was Anupam Singh’s lone battle against the odds. Anupam remained unbeaten on 42 off 114 balls while Shahid Riza (16) and Sandeep Shrestha (10) were only other batsmen to score some runs in the innings that saw four batsmen going out for duck.
Kathmandu’s reply was not convincing as they lost early wickets. They were 49/4 in 17 overs. Captain Gyanendra Malla topscored with 25 and Rom Shrestha got not out 16 along with Indra Kamal Manandhar’s 19 for Kathmandu’s victory.
Navin Shahi and Shahid were picks of the bowlers with two wickets each while Sandeep, Sunil Sunar and Subendu Pandey each grabbed a wicket.
On Friday, Biratnagar meets Baitadi for the fifth-place playoff. Semifinals are scheduled for Sunday.