Armed Police Force (APF) Club clinched the title of Pepsi Standard Chartered T20 National Cricket Tournament on Saturday as it thrashed Region No 6 (Baitadi) by 95 runs in the final at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.
It is consecutive title victory of APF, which won One-Day National Tournament last week.
APF elected to bat and put up 167/5 in 20 overs as Gyanendra Malla and skipper Paras Khadka completed half centuries. Sanjam Regmi dismissed four batsmen of Baitadi while Shakti Gauchan claimed three wickets to bundle out Baitadi for 72 runs in 14.4 overs.
APF lost its opener Paresh Lohani without scoring a run in the very first over but another opener Subash Khakurel (21 runs off 17 balls) put up 71-run partnership with Malla for the second wicket. Malla anchored the APF innings and put up 68-run partnership with Khadka (53 runs off 26 balls). Malla scored 69 runs off 59 balls including seven boundaries and a six while Khadka struck three boundaries and four sixes in his blistering innings. Sharad Vesawkar chipped in with 20 runs off 12 balls for APF. Chandra Sawad and Shiva Raj Swar claimed two wickets each while Prem Budal took a wicket for Baitadi.
Players of winner APF Club pose for a photograph after winning the Pepsi Standard Chartered T20 National Cricket Tournament on Saturday at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. (Photo Courtesy: CAN
Chasing the good total, Baitadi could not resist APF bowling attack. Binod Bhandari (24 runs off 10 balls), Naresh Budayer (23 runs off 23 balls) and Prem Tamang (11 runs off 13 balls) are only the batsmen to score in double figures.
Sanjam Regmi gave away 15 runs in four overs and claimed four wickets while Gauchan’s bowling figure was 2.4-0-3-3. Sunam Gautam sent two Baitadi batsmen back to the pavilion while Basant Regmi took a wicket.
APF batsman Malla was adjudged man-of-the-match for his well-built innings.
Winner APF received Rs 1, 25,000 and the trophy while runner-up Baitadi got Rs 75,000.
APF was the runner-up of the last edition as Nepal Police Club had won the T20 domestic title last year. However, NPC has not participated in the tournament this time.
APF coach Raju Basnet applauded his team and captain Paras Khadka for the success. “Paras has been performing well in the finals of domestic tournaments and he repeated it against Baitadi,” said Basnet. “We have depth in our batting order and our bowler restricted attacking batsmen of Baitadi to seal the victory,” he added.
Skipper Khadka credited teamwork as the reason behind the success. “Overall we played better cricket today. As Baitadi lost its opener early, we came out of pressure gradually,” said Khadka.
“Opener batsmen could not settle on the crease and their dismissal added pressure on us,” said Basudev Joshi, the coach of Baitadi. “I made a mistake of sending Binod Bhandari and Roshan Nepali as openers. It could have been better if I had paired Binod with Mahendra Chand,” lamented Joshi.
Meanwhile, APF wicketkeeper batsman Subash Khakurel received awards for the player-of-the-series and the best batsman. Khakurel scored 274 runs in six matches with an average of 91.33 and strike rate of 157.35. He had scored two half-centuries in the tournament including unbeaten 93 runs against Region No 3 Kathmandu. Khakurel receive Rs 25,000 in total, Rs 15,000 for the player-of-the-series award and Rs 10,000 for being the best batsman of the tournament.
Rahul BK, bowler of Region No 8 (Pokhara), bagged Rs 10,000 as he was announced as the best bowler of the tournament. BK claimed 11 wickets from four matches with the economy of 6.25.
Meanwhile, Binod Lama of Baitadi was adjudged emerging player of the tournament. He has claimed nine wickets from the five matches he played in the tournament with the economy rate of 5.06.
National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama, Standard Chartered Bank Acting CEO Diwakar Poudel, Barun Beverage representative Vikram Thapa and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) officials gave away the awards and prizes to the winners.