Ton-up Pun bats TAC into final

Sagar Pun of Tribhuvan Army Club raises his bat to celebrate a century against Province No.5 in semi-final match during their PM Cup Cricket Tournament at TU Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu on Friday, June 8, 2018. Photo: THT

Kathmandu, June 8

Sagar Pun scored a century as Tribhuvan Army Club hammered Province5 by 154 runs and advanced to the final of the Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Put into bat first, TAC scored 289-8 in 50 overs before packing Province5 for 135 runs in 35.5 overs. Openers Pun and Anil Kumar Mandal added 52 runs in 16 overs before Bikram Kumar Bhusal struck twice in the same over.

Bhusal bowled Mandal (19) in the first ball of the 17th over before he had Naresh Budayair caught by wicketkeeper Shubhendu Pandey two balls later.

After losing Raju Rijal (five) in the 27th over, Pun and Bhim Sharki added 125 runs for the fourth wicket to take the match away from Province5. Pun scored 118 off 142 balls hitting 10 fours and four sixes before Pandey took
the catch behind the stumps off Lal Adhikari.

Sharki and skipper Binod Bhandari then added 43 runs for the fifth wicket. Sharki scored a quick fire 77 off 53 balls that included five fours and three sixes, while Bhandari struck two boundaries and four sixes in his 15-ball 37. Sompal Kami contributed 11 off nine balls hitting a six.

Bhuvan Karki was the pick of the Province5 bowlers taking 3-55, while Bhusal claimed 2-53. Lal Adhikari and Shakti Gauchan pocketed one wicket each.

In reply, Province5 were never in contention and half of their line-up was already in the dressing room with just 55 runs on the board. No 9 batsman Krishna Karki was the top scorer with 31 off 29 balls that included two fours and three sixes, while Shankar Rana struck three boundaries and a six in his 39-ball 23. Antim Thapa and Saurav Khanal contributed 14 each, while Shubhendu Pandey scored 11.

For TAC, Bikram Sob (3-28) and Sushan Bhari (3-13) shared six wickets between them, while man-of-the-match Sagar Pun took 2-29. Sompal Kami and Shahab Alam pocketed one wicket each.

In another semi-final match on Saturday, Nepal APF Club will play against Nepal Police Club in departmental derby at the TU Stadium. The final is slated for Sunday.