Janakpur edged closer to the semifinals of the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament after registering its third successive win in the tournament, on Sunday.
However, the day belonged to Sunil Dhimal, whose century propelled Kanchanpur to an emphatic 122-run victory over Pokhara in another match.
At the Pulchowk Engineering College ground, Janakpur defeated Nepalgunj by 58 runs as Hari Shankar Sah ran riot with the ball, taking six wickets to foil Nepalgunj´s run-chase.
Nepalgunj captain Akash Bista´s five-wicket haul in the first innings went in vain as Janakpur won the toss and scored 206 runs in 44.5 overs.
Captain Rahul Pratap Singh topscored for Janakpur with 38 runs off 41 balls. He hit six boundaries during his stay at the crease. Chandan Jha made 37 off 66 with five fours, while Ansaj Upadhyaya and Abhishek Singh added 26 runs each.
Abhishek Jha, who had hit 42 runs and bagged six wickets in Janakpur´s 13-run win over Bhairahawa a day earlier, scored only 21 runs this time. Hari Shankar Sah was run out after making 15.
Bista was the pick of the bowlers with a five-wickets haul, giving away just 23 runs in 8.5 overs, which included a maiden over. Bhupendra Roka and Anup Neupane grabbed two wickets each and Amar Singh Rautela took one.
Chasing a target of 207, Nepalgunj was all out in 34.3 overs for 148 runs. Opener Prajwal Shahi scored 35 runs, including six boundaries, off 47 balls. Bhupendra Thapa (18), Rabindra Shahi (17) and Shishir Thapa (10) were the other contributors.
Hari Shankar Sah overshadowed Bista´s heroics as he took six wickets, giving away 27 runs in nine overs, which included two maiden overs.
At the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Sunil Dhimal scored 128 runs as Kanchanpur posted a huge total of 281 runs in 50 overs losing four wickets. Kanchanpur then restricted Pokhara to just 159 runs.
It was Kanchanpur´s second straight victory while Pokhara has lost both its matches so far.
Dhimal reached his century in 120 balls. He struck 17 fours and a six during his 141-ball knock.
He also shared a 113-run partnership for the third wicket with Bhim Sarki. Captain Bhuvan Karki and Raju Rijal remained unbeaten on 52 and 32 respectively. Karki´s innings included eight boundaries off 33 balls.
Pokhara´s skipper Nischal Pandey grabbed two wickets and Anil Gurung took one.
In the run-chase, Gurung topscored with 59, while Akash Thapa (46), Manoj Koirala (12), Shiva Shrestha (12) and Dhruva Karki (11) were the other contributors.
Kanchanpur´s Dipendra Airee took three wickets.