Region No 2 Birgunj continued its unbeaten streak thrashing Region No 4 Bhairahawa by 10 wickets at the BSAM Ground to reach the final of the Boost U-16 National League Cricket Tournament.
Yuddha Bikram Chand of Region No 6 Baitadi bowls. Photo by NepalSportsPhoto.com
After bowling out Bhairahawa for 59 runs in 20.2 overs, Birgunj openers needed 13 overs to register their fourth victory in as many matches. In the other match of the day, Region No 6 Baitadi defeated Region No 1 Biratnagar by four wickets.
Bhairahawa is still the strongest contender among the remaining team to reach the final with two wins from three matches while Region No 5 Nepalgunj, Baitadi and Region No 3 Kathmandu have a win each.
At BSAM, Bhairahawa saw a batting debacle after choosing to bat first. The openers added 22 in 5 overs which proved to be the highest partnership of the innings. Once Sushan Bari (9) was bowled out by Gopal Singh, the landslide began.
Other opener Swichan Shah got 26 off 52 balls with two fours. Apart from them, the remaining nine batsmen totaled 14 runs off the their bats – five of them did not score. They got to 59 because of 10 extras bowled by Birgunj bowler.
For Birgunj, Rahul Pratap Singh and Rajeev Shah each took three wickets while Gopal and Mustakim Miya claimed a wicket each.
Birgunj openers Chakra Prakash Singh and Rahul ensured that no other batsmen would be needed for the victory with unbeaten partnership of 60 runs. Chakra got 29 off 31 balls with five fours while man of the match Rahul scored 28 off 47 balls with three boundaries.
The hero of Baitadi’s four wicket victory at the IOE Ground was captain Bikram Thalal who scored half-century as Baitadi chased Biratnagar’s 155/9 in 36.5 overs with four wickets remaining.
Bhawendra Magar of Region No 1 Biratnagar was bowled out. Photo by NepalSportsPhoto.com
After Dipendra Chand’s fall in the first over, Bikram partnered Tapendra Saud for 84 runs to lay the foundation of the victory. Tapendra was out scoring 36 off 81 balls with a four. Jadish Chand got out soon to make it 88/3 before the captain partnered another 50-run stand with Sameer Nagarkoti.
Sameer scored 24 off 33 balls with two fours and a six to take his team near the victory. Three wickets fell in succession for Baitadi but Bikram stayed till the end to ensure the victory along with Arjun Chapagain (6 not out).
For Biratnagar, captain Hari Chaulagain, Prajwal Katuwal, Lilan Kharel, Rimesh Regmi and Shailendra Ram each grabbed a wicket.
Earlier, Biratnagar won the toss and elected to bat first. Although the top order did not score much, the tailenders ensured that they reach a good total. Birendra Dahal and Hari partnered 48 runs for seventh wicket while No 9 Lilan scored run-a-ball 10. Other contributors were Vikrant Dev (13), Rimesh (12) and Rohit Singh (10).
Birendra Bista and Jagdish Chand got three wickets each while Arjun Chapagain, Yuddha Bikram Chand and Sameer each got a wicket.
On January 9, Biratnagar played Kathmandu at BSAM while Bhairahawa played Nepalgunj at IOE.
Photos by NepalSportsPhoto.com