The semifinal line-up in the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament was completed on Wednesday with Region No 2 (Birgunj) and Region No 3 (Kathmandu) joining Region No 9 (Kanchanpur) and Region No 7 (Janakpur) in the last-four of the competition.
Birgunj and Kathmandu secured berths in the last-four from Group A with a match in hand after Birgunj defeated Region No 1 (Biratnagar) by four wickets at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Wednesday for its second straight win. The result puts undefeated Birgunj and Kathmandu on top of the standings with four points each in the four-team group. Region No 1 (Biratnagar) and Region No 6 (Baitadi) — both pointless — crashed out with a match in hand.
The last group match between Birgunj and Kathmandu on Thursday at the Bhaktapur ground will decide the group winner. The group winner will meet Group B runner-up Janakpur, which lost to Kanchanpur by eight wickets at the Bhaktapur ground on Wednesday. Kanchanpur, which topped Group B, will meet the runner-up of Group A.
At the TU ground, Birgunj successfully chased a 202-run target as opener Amit Shrestha (72) and skipper Suraj Prasad Kurmi (60 not out) completed half-centuries. Shrestha shared an 89-run partnership for the second wicket with Kurmi as Birgunj made 205/6 in 46.3 overs. Player-of-the-match Shrestha faced 93 balls and smashed eight boundaries.
Skipper Kurmi played a patient knock of 60 off 110 that included four boundaries. Anil Kumar Shah scored 32 and opener Aqueit Ali Ansari added 15.
Kalicharan Yadav claimed two wickets of Birgunj while Rohit Singh, Puran Bishwakarma, Siddhant Lohani and Mukunda Yadav shared a wicket each.
Earlier, Biratnagar opted to bat first and opener Somesh Yadav scored 37 runs but he could not get good support from the other end. Fifth-order batsman Mobin Ali took charge when Biratnagar was tottering at 64/4 and led the team to a respectable total of 201/8. Ali hit 50 runs in his patient knock of 123 balls.
Skipper Siddhant Lohani smashed 65 off 68 with nine fours and a six before being trapped leg before wicket. Bhuwan Meche (11) and Rohit Singh (10) were the other batsmen to reach double figures. Arif Sheikh of Birgunj claimed three wickets and Ram Naresh Giri took two.
At the Bhaktapur ground, Lalit Bhandari and Arjun Chapagain claimed three wickets each as Kanchanpur bowled out Janakpur for 166 runs in 40.2 overs. In reply, player-of-the-match Deependra Chand blasted an unbeaten 87 to see his team home in 34.5 overs for the loss of two wickets. Opener Chand struck 14 boundaries facing 105 deliveries. Sunil Dhamala scored 24 and Raju Rijal added 26, while Bhim Sharki remained unbeaten on four runs.
Earlier, Sameer Nepal topscored with 37 runs for Janakpur that chose to bat first after winning the toss. Chandan Jha (14), Abhishek Singh (13) and Saurav Nagbanshi (10) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures. Janakpur received 52 runs in extras.
In a clash between two eliminated teams, Region No 8 (Pokhara) defeated Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) by six runs to earn its first points. Set a target of 81 runs, Nepalgunj was bowled out for 74 in 20 overs. Sushil Kandel of Pokhara claimed five wickets and Sangharsha Poudel took three.