Dipendra Chaudhary hit a half-century as hosts Region No 3 Kathmandu raced to an easy 43-run victory over Region No 3 Birgunj in the inaugural match of the Springwood T20 National Cricket Tournament on Tuesday at TU Cricket Ground.
Man of the match Dipendra scored 67 off 50 balls and partnered 100 runs with captain Paras Khadka to help Kathmandu reach 157/7 in 20 overs. Birgunj in reply could only manage 114/7.
Winning the toss, Kathmandu elected to bat. The openers, Paresh Lohani (5) and Sanjay Shrestha (12), went early making it 17/2 in fourth over. Dipendra and Paras then took the charge scoring freely averaging nine runs per over for next 11 overs.
Dipendra hit five fours and three sixes while Paras scored 46 runs off only 33 balls with two fours and three sixes.
Suraj Timilsina broke the partnership as Paras edged to Hasim Ansari. Sarad Vesawkar (3) and Raju Basnet (3) could not stay long but Dipendra continued scoring and taking the team to a formidable total. He was out to left-arm seamer Avinash Karn, who had the best bowling figure with 2/28 in the 19th over.
Rom Shrestha (4 not out) and Manoj Sood (7 not out) completed the overs lifting the total to 157/7.
Birgunj captain Binod Das promoted himself to opening position to give his team hopes but could not succeed well as he was bowled out by Rom after scoring 12 off 10 balls with two fours.
His dismiss led to frequent fall of wickets. Anil Manal (8), Hasim Ansari (20), Hari Shankar Shah (13) and Shiva Tandukar (30) all got the start but could not continue the knock to take Birgunj to victory.
Rom added one more while Pramod Basnet and Raju each grabbed two wickets. Abhaya Rana claimed a wicket to restrict Birgunj for 114/7 and register a 43-run victory.
On June 3 Wednesday, Region No 1 Biratnagar plays Birgunj in the first match while Kathmandu meets Region No 4 Bhairahawa in the second.