Region No 3 (Kathmandu) crashed out of the group stage of Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament on Saturday following its second defeat in a row. Kathmandu suffered a three-wicket defeat at the hands of Region No 6 (Baitadi) to become the first team to crash out from Group A with a match in hand.
Kathmandu opted to bat first and was bowled out for 129 runs in 38.5 overs in the match played in Pokhara, Kaski. In reply, Baitadi made 131 runs in 29.4 overs losing seven wickets.
After playing two matches, Baitadi is in the third place with two points while Kathmandu slipped to the bottom of the table without a point. Region No 1 (Biratnagar) and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) have three points each but the former leads the table on the basis of better run rate.
Man-of-the-match Bhuwan Karki shone for Baitadi, topscoring with an unbeaten 30 runs and claiming three wickets.
Opener Sharad Khadka (16), Bibhatsu Thapa (18), Ujjwal Thapa (15), Jeevan Lamsal (16), Abhiraj Yadav (17) and Prakash Bista (14 not out) were the other batsmen to reach double figures for Kathmandu, which lost its other batsmen cheaply.
Samir Nagarkoti of Baitadi claimed the highest four wickets in his 9.5-over spell with two maiden overs giving away 30 runs. Man-of-the-match Karki gave away 24 runs in his 10 overs with two maiden overs. Arjun Chapagain claimed two and Jagdish Chand one wicket for Baitadi.
In its run chase Baitadi also lost wickets at regular intervals. But No 5 batsman Karki anchored Baitadi´s innings when it was teetering at 4/73. Remaining unbeaten Karki played a patient knock of 30 runs off 46 deliveries with three fours.
Prem Tamang (21) and Bhim Sharki (15) were the other Baitadi batsmen to reach double figures. Yogendra Karki remained unbeaten on nine runs. Baitadi received 36 runs as extras.
Prakash Budhathoki, Sanjay Shah and Sharad Khadka took two wickets each for Kathmandu while Ujjwal Thapa claimed one.