Armed Police Force entered the semi-finals in the Men’s T20 at the 6th National Games as Sharad Veswakar continued to dazzle with bat, winning the second consecutive match by a thumping margin.
Batting first, APF posted 149 for 6, thanks largely to Veswakar’s 74 off 54 balls with 5 sixes. In reply, Western Region could just manage 43, as Paras Khadka opened the bowling to snare 4 wickets. His fellow bowling opener Mehboob Alam managed 3 wickets for 3 runs in his 4-over spell. For Western Region, only Akash Gupta could manage double figures, with 21 runs to his credit. There was hardly any competition in the match as half of Western Region team was back in the pavilion with 10 runs on the board in 4th over. Western Region was 8 down for 18, compared to APF’s first wicket stand of 20.
Sharad Veswakar (APF) after scoring unbeaten 100 against Mid Western Region
Earlier, Krishna Karki took 4 wickets in APF innings, as Gyanendra Malla and Mehboob Alam scored 22 and 19 respectively. Malla was patient in his 33 ball stay, compared to Alam’s 11-ball 19. Less than a week ago, APF had defeated Western Region to lift Indian Ambassador’s Cup.
Yesterday, Sharad Veswakar scored a 44-ball 100 enabling APF to defeat Mid Western Region by 169 runs.
Brief Score: APF 149/6 (Sharad Veswakar 74, Gyanendra Malla 22; Krishna Karki 4-25) bt Western Region 43/10 (Akash Gupta 21; Paras Khadka 4-10, Mehboob Alam 3-3; Paras Khadka took a hat-trick in the first over of second innings)
In the first match of the day, today, Far Western Region defeated Eastern Region by 7 wickets.
Chasing a relatively easy target of 97, Far Western Region lost 3 wickets to overhaul it with 3 balls to spare. Pradeep Airee scored the highest 33 for Far Western Region. Naresh Budhayer hit a 18-ball 25.
Earlier, Far Western bowlers Chandra Saud and Bhuwan Karki bowled tight line, taking two wickets each. Saud gave away 13 runs as Karki gave away 17 runs in their 4-over spells. For Eastern Region, Manjeet Shrestha was the highest scorer with 47 off 46 deliveries. Ajay Rajbanshi scored 24.
Brief Score: Far Western 98/3 (Pradeep Airee 33, Naresh Budhayer 25) bt Eastern 96/10 (Manjeet Shrestha 46, Ajay Rajbanshi 24; Chandra Saud 2-13, Bhuwan Karki 2-17)
Photo Courtesy: National Sports Council