Sudurpaschim Province reached the final of the Lalitpur Mayor Women’s Twenty20 Championship after they edged Lumbini Province by 38 runs in their last group stage game at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur on Saturday.

They will meet Nepal APF Sports Club, who had sealed the final berth with a match in hand on Friday. The third win in the five-team group ensured Sudurpaschim finish the group stage at least in second position. Only the top two teams make it to the final showdown.

Sudurpaschim are level on six points with APF, but stand second in the standing due to inferior run rate. Lumbini Province and Province 1, third and fourth in the standings with two points each, crashed out despite having a match in hand.

Despite making a poor start to their innings, Sudurpaschim posted a challenging total of 128-5 before restricting Lumbini to 90-5.

Sudurpaschim lost their openers Rewati Dhami for one run and Bindu Rawal for a duck with 2-5 on board. But Samjhana Khadka and captain Ritu Kanaujiya shared a 64-run stand for the third wicket to anchor the innings before the latter was dismissed.

Kanoujiya contributed 34-ball 33 before she was bowled by Mahdu KC. She hit four fences.

Khadka top-scored with 42 off 48 that included five boundaries. The player-of-the-match was bowled by Kritika Marasini.

Kabita Joshi was another major contributor scoring 32 runs facing 24 deliveries. She smashed three fences and a maximum before she was caught by Saraswati Bajgai off Nary Thapa. Kabita Kunwar remained unbeaten on 10 runs.

Veteran Thapa, also the former national captain, who made a decent contribution with both ball and bat grabbed three wickets for Lumbini. She gave away 30 runs in her four-over spell. Marasini and DC picked one wicket each.

Lumbini’s Thapa, who came to bat at number four, scored 23 off 38 with two fences before she was run out in the 18th over. Openers Ashma Pulami Magar contributed 22 off 33 while Laxmi Chaudhary hit ball-a-run 10. Pulami Magar, who struck two fences, was caught by Kabita Kunwar in a delivery by Samjhana Khadka. Chaudhary was trapped leg before by Kunwar.

Sudurpaschim bowlers Kunwar and Khadka claimed two wickets each. Kunwar conceded two runs in her four-over bowling with a maiden over. Khadka gave away 13 runs in her three-over spell.

In the dead rubber clashes on Sunday, Lalitpur play against Province 1 in the early game before Lumbini take on APF.