National team skipper Gyanendra Malla-led Bagmati crashed out from the Gautam Buddha Cup twenty20 cricket tournament as they faced second defeat in a row losing to Binod Bhandari's Rapti by 11 runs in Bharatpur, Chitwan, on Sunday.

Bagmati had lost their opening match in Super Over against Narayani on Saturday in the three-team round robin league contest which sends top two teams into the final. The outcome also assured Rapti and Narayani a place in the final for Tuesday before they vie in a dead rubber on Monday.

Inviting Rapti to bat first, Bagmati failed to chase the 130-run target as they were bowled out for 118 runs with two balls to spare. After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel for just three runs, next four batsmen Amit Shrestha (26), Sharad Vesawkar and skipper Bhandari (21 runs each), and Lokesh Bam (15) made moderate contributions to lift Rapti innings. Kamal Singh (16) was the other player to score in double digits as they made 129-9.

Bagmati's Sompal Kami, who also shone with bat, picked two wickets conceding 27 runs in his four-over spell. Sagar Dhakal and Rashid Khan also picked two wickets each.

Middle order batsman Kami led the Bagmati fightback with 35 runs off 28, but his effort went in vain. He struck three fours and two sixes before being bowled by Basant Karki. Anil Shah also contributed 22 runs off 18 deliveries. Openers Sunil Dhamala (11) and captain Malla (13), Rohit Paudel (13) and Pawan Sarraf (10) were the other batsmen to score in double figures.

The man-of-the-match Abinash Bohara shone and Jitendra Mukhiya of Rapti came up with economic figures in bowling. Bohara claimed two wickets in his four-over spell giving away 12 runs while Mukhiya also claimed two wickets in his 3.4 overs bowling conceding 11 runs.

Kamal Singh and Basant Karki took two wickets apiece while Sonu Tamang bagged one wicket.

The tournament is organised by Bagmati Province Cricket Association to bring the game back on pitch as no competitive game was held for nearly a year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.The teams have players from the national team training camp, age group teams and those of Chitwan.