Dhamala, Sheikh bat NPC to victory

Kathmandu, May 28

Sunil Dhamala and Aarif Sheikh scored half centuries as Nepal Police Club registered a 174-run victory over Province7 in the Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Batting first, NPC scored a mammoth 324-6 in their allotted 50 overs, while Province7 — chasing a revised target of 305 from 37 overs after rain interrupted the match — managed 130-7.

NPC made a flying start with openers Dhamala and Dilip Nath putting up 92 runs on the board in 18.3 overs before Santosh Bhatta made the breakthrough. Nath scored 27 off 63 balls hitting four boundaries.

Dhamala then added 48 runs for the second wicket with Dipendra Singh Airee, who struck four fours in his 22-ball 25. After Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed for 22 runs in the 34th over, Dhamala and Sheikh shared a 51-run partnership for the fourth wicket taking the team total past 200-run mark.

Man-of-the-match Dhamala finally fell in the 40th over after scoring 83 off 113 balls with the help of nine boundaries. Sheikh then got skipper Manjeet Shrestha as the partner at the centre and the duo added 58 runs for the fifth wicket. Sheikh struck two fours and five sixes in his quick fire 57 off just 37 balls.

Shrestha, who remained unbeaten on 49 off just 33 balls that included four boundaries and three sixes, shared 46-run stand with Siddhant Lohani, who struck three fours and six in his 14-ball 26 before being bowled by Surendra Chand in the last ball of the innings.

Sher Malla took 2-50 for Province7, while Sagar Bhandari, Surendra Chand and Santosh Bhatta claimed one wicket each.

In reply, Arun Airee fought the lonely battle for Province7. Airee scored 77 off 88 balls hitting five fours and three sixes. Roshan Nepali (13) and skipper Santosh Bhatta (10) were the other two batsmen who scored in double figures.

Dipendra Singh Airee was the pick of the NPC bowlers taking 4-19 from eight overs, while Lalit Singh Bhandari claimed 2-29 and Lalit Narayan Bhandari pocketed one wicket.

In another match at the Mulpani grounds which was also affected by the sudden rain, Province1 defeated Province2 by 68 runs, in D/L method. Electing to bat first, Province1 scored 223-7 in 50 overs before Province2 — chasing the revised target of 214 runs from 34 overs — were packed for 145 runs with four overs to spare.

Sandeep Dhungana top scored for Province1 with 51 off 69 balls hitting eight boundaries. Province1 were 98-3 when Dhungana fell in the first ball of the 23rd over and they lost another four wickets for 51 runs in almost 18 overs.

Tailenders Firdosh Ansari and Sarwan Yadav rescued the team with a 74-run partnership for the unbroken eighth wicket. Ansari struck two
sixes in his 33-ball 37, while Yadav scored 34 off 36 balls hitting two fours and a six.

Samsad Sheikh took 4-32 from 10 overs for Province2, while Mehboob Alam claimed 2-32 and Hari Shankar Shah bagged one wicket.

In reply, Province2 innings crumbled cheaply despite opener Shah scoring 44 off 66 balls with the help of six boundaries. Another opener Kundan Singh scored 16, while Rahul Pratap Singh (22) was the only other batsman to contribute in double figures.

Man-of-the-match Puspa Thapa (3-23) and Minash Thapa (3-29) shared six wickets between them for Province1, while Manoj Tamang took 2-8. Firdosh Ansari and Sandeep Dhungana pocketed one wicket each.

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