Nepal APF Sports Club defended the title of Lalitpur Mayor Women's Twenty20 Championship with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sudurpaschim Province in the final at TU cricket ground in Kirtipur on Monday.

The departmental giants, who had defeated the same opponents by six wickets in the group stage, restricted Sudurpaschim to a moderate total of 113-4 before surpassing the target for the loss of two wickets in 15.5 overs.

Champions APF bagged a purse of Rs200,000 and the winners trophy while the runners up Sudurpaschim walked away with Rs100,000.

The final was also the rematch of the last edition's title clash where APF had defeated the same team in the summit clash by eight-wicket before a 37-run win in the group stage in the tournament played in April, 2021.

Batting first, opener Bindu Rawal contributed 37 off 36 and shared a 48 run stand for the first wicket with Rewati Dhami. Opener Dhami contributed 31-ball 10 in her slow innings before she was run out by Karuna Bhandari.

Rawal, the highest scorer of the innings hit five fours, was caught by Rajmati Airee off Sushma Shrestha with 2-52 on board. Dolly Bhatta and Kabita Kunwar also shared a 52-run stand for the third wicket to lift the innings before the former was run out. Bhatta smashed a 25-ball 36 that included four fences and a six. Kunwar remained unbeaten on 24 off 25.

APF bowler Sushma Shrestha grabbed two wickets in her four-over spell giving away 22 runs.

In the run chase, APF opener Jyoti Pandey contributed 43 off 44. She cracked five fences before being stumped by wicketkeeper Shova Rokaya off Laxmi Saud as the second wicket.

The player-of-the match Pandey also shared a 58-run opening wicket partnership with captain Sita Rana Magar and 39-run stand for the second wicket with Indu Barma before her dismissal. Rana Magar scored 19 off 22 that included three fences before she was caught by Ishwori Bist of Samjhana Khadka.

Barma was the other major contributor playing an unbeaten knock of 29 runs facing 24 deliveries. She struck two boundaries and a maximum. Roma Thapa was not out on five runs.

Sudurpaschim's Samjhana Khadka and Laxmi Saud picked one wicket each. Khadka gave away 23 runs in her three-over spell while Saud conceded 12 runs in her 11 deliveries.

APF's opening batter Pandey, the lone player to score a half century in the tournament, won three individual honours. Apart from player-of-the-match, she was also declared the player-of-the-series and best batter. She collected a total cash prize of Rs43,000 — Rs25,000 as player-of-the-series, Rs15,000 as best batter and Rs3,000 as player of the final.

She had collected 155 runs in five innings of the tournament and played unbeaten knock in two games including a half century against hosts Lalitpur Mayor's XI. Ishwori Bist of runners up Sudurpaschim was named best bowler and was rewarded with Rs15,000. The 20-year-old had claimed seven wickets in five innings of the championship.