Armed Police Force are going to have two title clashes in cricket on the same day. Both the teams from APF, Men’s and Women’s have made it to the finals in cricket at the 6th National Games. In Men’s APF are to face Central Region.
In the first men’s semi-final, Central Region defeated Western Region by 27 runs.
Buoyed by Binod Das’ 30 ball 56, Central Region posted 121 in 19.5 overs, as Anil Mandal posted 22. Das thrashed his way to half century with 6 sixes and 3 fours. National U-19 player Rajesh Pulami scored 11. Western Region Bijay Thapa bowler took 3 wickets, as Lal Bahadur Adhikari managed two scalps.
Chasing just over run-a-ball, Western Region could not manage to keep pace with required run rate and mustered 94 runs, losing 8 wickets in 20 overs. Naresh Raj Giri and Nischal Pandey took 3 and 2 wickets to manage breakthrough at regular intervals. First innings hero Binod Das added a scalp too. For Western Region batsman Fazlur Rehman scored 28. The only other notable contribution was from Bijay Thapa, who managed 18 not out.
In the second semi-final of the day, Armed Police Force defeated Far Western Region by 20 runs.
Chasing a relatively difficult target of 150 runs, Far Western Region faltered and managed 129 runs in 19.1 overs. Binod Bhandari scored the highest 47 runs for Far Western. That came off 24 balls, including 3 fours and 4 sixes. Pradeep Airee scored 31 off 22. Naresh Budhayer scored patient 11, off 19 deliveries. Basanta Regmi was pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets, with Paras Khadka taking 2. Mehboob Alam also took 2.
Earlier, APF won the toss and posted 149 for 8, choosing to bat first. Sharad Veswakar continued his good form scoring 34 off 32 deliveries. Basanta Regmi blasted 31 off 14 and remained at the crease till the end. Captain Paras Khadka pushed along with 29 runs. For Far Western Region, Rajendra Bam took two wickets.
Women’s
Armed Police Force made it a double celebration day with women’s team entering the title contest. APF women’s team defeated Far Western team by 4 wickets.
Far Western won the toss and posted 87 for 9, at the end of 20 overs. Roshani Bohora was the top scorer with 35, Chetana Bohora made 12. Almost all the APF bowlers bowled well, as Neera Rajopadhyay, Binu Budhamagar and Sarita Magar took two wickets each. U-19 national team player Sonu Khadka took one wicket.
Chasing a target that required less than 5 an over, Sarita Magar showed her allround skills scoring 21 runs, highest for APF team. Madhu Thapa added 19 runs to the tally. Neera and Karuna Bhandari both unbeaten with 11 runs each.
Chetana Bohora and Asha Shaki took two wickets before APF overhauled the target 18.3 overs. Anjali Chand took one wicket.
APF women’s team will face face Eastern Region in the final. Meanwhile, Eastern Region defeated Central Region 40 runs in the other semi final.
Batting first, Eastern Region scored 112 for 7 in allotted 20 overs, with National U-19 team members Anuradha Chowdhary, Mamata Chowdhary and Kavita Gautam scoring 25, 24 and 23.
In reply, Central Region managed 72 for 7, as Kavita came back with good all round show, taking 3 wickets. Saraswati Chowdhary took 2. Opener Shobha Ale scored 34 for Central Region. She waged the lone battle as Eastern Region bowlers tightening the noose around Central.
The final of both men’s and women’s will be played on Friday. The match to decide 3rd place will also be played on the same day.