Region No 5 (Bhairahawa) outplayed defending champions Region No 2 (Birgunj) to lift the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament title at the TU Cricket Ground.
Bhairahawa team with the U-19 National title. Photo: Republica
Bhairahawa scored 263/8 in allotted 48 overs and bowled out Birgunj for mere 142 in 37.5 overs for a 121-run victory.
Choosing to bat first, Bhairahawa got a good start with Sagan Pun (17) and F Rahman Khan (24) adding 40 runs in 8 overs. Their stand created an opportunity for middle-order batsmen to play freely.
Nischal Chauhdary contributed 48, Rahul Kumar BK 44 and Krishna Karki played a blistering knock of unbeaten 50. Krishna completed the half-century in just 33 balls with six boundaries, two of them being the maximum.
Avinash Karn, the most prolific pacer who had taken all 10 wickets in the innings in the tournament, took four wickets but failed to dominate giving away 67 runs in his 10 overs. Rahul Kumar Shah claimed three wickets.
In the later half of the match, Bibek Chaudhary took 6 wickets for 15 runs to claim man of the final award.
Bibek’s demolition came at the time when Birgunj sensed that they had a chance at 84/2 in 22 overs. They lost Amit Shrestha, the centurian of the semifinal, in third over but opener Mohd Hasim and Rabin Gurung batted patiently to lift up the team.
Rabin was unluckily run-out slipping twice in the middle of the pitch while Bibek bowled Hasim the next ball to end a good innings.
Hasim got 58 off 69 balls with 9 boundaries. Bibek Dali contributed 27 but it was all over with Birgunj middle-order failing to cope with the pressure.
It’s third U-19 national title for Bhairahawa for which they received Rs. 25,000 cash. Runners-up BIrgunj got Rs. 10,000.
Avinash Karn - the man of the series and the best bowler. Photo: Republica
Avinash was adjudged man of the series and best bowler of the tournament for his 25 wickets at the average of 7.68. It was the highest number of wickets taken by a bowler in any domestic tournament. He also scored 68 runs, including a half-century. He was awarded Rs. 15,000 for his 10-wicket haul and Rs. 10,000 each for the two awards.
Subash Khakurel of Region No 3 (Kathmandu) won the award for best batsman as he scored 243 runs in four matches with the average of 60.75. He also received Rs 10,000 while Bibek Chaudhary bagged Rs 5,000.
Secretary of Youth & Sports Ministry Sushil Narsing J.B Rana, Cricket Association of Nepal President Binaya Raj Pandey, Senior Marketing Manager of Chaudhary Group Lal Babu Prasad and Marketing Manager of Chaudhary Group Surendra Khanal gave away the prizes and awards to the winners.