Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) defeated Region No 6 (Baitadi) by four wickets in a group round match of the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament in Pokhara on Friday.
Nepalgunj bowled out Baitadi for 112 runs in 26 overs as Bhupendra Roka Magar took four wickets and Akash Bista claimed three. Prajwal Shahi then played a crucial innings of 35 runs off 41 balls as Nepalgunj met the target in 25.1 overs losing six wickets.
Baitadi elected to bat and openers Deependra Chand (15 runs off 33 balls) and Roman Bam (22 runs off 24 balls) gave a good start putting up a 40-run stand. However, Magar dismissed four top order batsmen to rattle Baitadi´s batting line-up. Akash Bista then dismissed three middle order batsmen to add to Baitadi´s woes.
Batting at No 9, Bhuwan Karki scored 27 runs off 32 balls and Nepalgunj gave away 29 extras as Baitadi reached the total of 112 runs. Aamir Hasan Halwai claimed two wickets for Nepalgunj while Siddhant Raj Shahi took a wicket.
Nepalgunj did not have a good start as opener Sandeep Khatri was dismissed without scoring a single run while Wasim Halwai added just seven runs. Prajwal Shahi anchored the Nepalgunj innings scoring 35 runs off 41 balls with the help of five boundaries. Pravin Giri added 19 runs off 44 balls.
Giri put up a 30-run partnership with Shahi for the fifth wicket and a 27-run partnership with Amar Singh Routela for the sixth wicket. Rautela (12 runs off 29 balls) and Inamuddin Halwai (1 run) remained unbeaten to seal victory for Nepalgunj.
Samir Nagarkoti claimed three wickets while Bhuwan Karki took two wickets for Baitadi. Arjun Chapagain also claimed a wicket.
Nepalgunj bowler Bhupendra Roka Magar was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
Following the win, Nepalgunj has three points from two matches in Pool A. The first match of pool A between Region No 1 (Biratnagar) and Nepalgunj was washed out due to rain on Wednesday and the two teams had shared a point each.
Biratnagar also has three points from two matches but it is on top of the points table with a superior net run rate. Biratnagar had defeated Region No 3 (Kathmandu) on Thursday.
Baitadi will take on Kathmandu at the Pokhara Stadium on Saturday.