Departmental teams Nepal Police Club and Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club made winning starts in the Prime Minister Cup One-Day National Cricket Tournament, which kicked off on Sunday.

Captain Dipendra Singh Airee struck a century for Police and also shone with ball as they registered a comprehensive 192-run victory over Bagmati Province at the Mulpani ground.

At the TU ground in Kirtipur, opener Pradeep Airee and Sundeep Jora struck a half century each as they saw off arch-rivals Tribhuvan Army Club by 56 runs.

Put to bat first, Police amassed 289-5 against Bagmati, aided by Airee’s 108 runs, before restricting Bagmati to 97 runs in 28 overs. Player-of-the-match Airee, batting at number three, struck 11 fences and four sixes in his 82-ball knock. He was bowled out by Nandan Yadav in the 48th over.

Airee shared a 136-run stand for the fourth wicket with Aarif Sheikh before the latter was dismissed on 36 runs. Sheikh hit a four and a six each facing 68 deliveries before he was caught by wicketkeeper Durgesh Thapa off Ramnaresh Giri.

Openers Sunil Dhamala and Kushal Bhurtel both contributed 37 runs each. Dhamala hit five boundaries and a maximum in his 23-ball knock before Yadav made him caught by wicketkeeper Giri. Bhurtel, trapped leg before by Sonu Devkota, hit seven fences in his 72-ball innings.

Yogendra Singh Karki contributed 34-ball 16 while Dilip Nath and Pawan Sarraf remained not out on 12 and 15 runs, respectively.

Bagmati bowler Yadav claimed two wickets in his 10-over spell giving away 73 runs, while Giri, Surya Tamang and Devkota picked one wicket each.

Bagmati made a shaky start to their run chase and were limited to 4-14 after pacer Karan KC removed opener Rit Gautam on one run and former national captain Gyanendra Malla on four runs, trapping the latter leg before.

Gulshan Jha removed the next two batters—Durgesh Thapa on one and Bibek Magar for a duck—with both of them being caught by wicketkeeper Dilip Nath.

Opener Ishan Pandey contributed 47-ball 24, the highest of the innings, while tail-ender Ramnaresh Giri remained unbeaten on 22 off 23. Pratis GC (14) and Nandan Yadav (10) were the only other batters for Bagmati to touch double digit figures.

Police captain Airee was the pick of bowling claiming three wickets in his five-over spell. He conceded 10 runs and hurled a maiden over. Pacer Karan KC, Gulsan Jha and Sagar Dhakal all shared two wickets each.

At TU, electing to bat first, APF were restricted to 219 in 47.4 overs before they bowled out Army for 163 in 32.1 overs.

APF opener Pradeep Airee struck 71 off 80 that included four fences and six maximums before Kushal Malla made him caught by Bhim Sharki. Sundeep Jora struck 62-ball 50 comprising six boundaries. He was caught by Shahab Alam in Kushal Malla’s delivery.

Bhuvan Karki (26), captain Sharad Vesawkar (16), Mousom Dhakal (12) and Amar Routela (not out 10) were other batters to contribute in double digits.

Bikram Sob of APF Army was the most successful bowler claiming four wickets in his 7.4 overs spell conceding 23 runs. Shahab Alam and Kushal Malla grabbed two wickets each.

Opener Hari Chauhan and Rohit Paudel led the Army’s run chase with half centuries each, but other batters fared poorly and none of them managed to touch double digit figures. Chauhan hit 67-ball 65, which included seven boundaries and a six, while Paudel played 59-ball 51 comprising seven fences. Both Chauhan and Paudel were caught by wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh in Kishore Mahato’s deliveries.

Paudel’s dismissal with 3-143 in 24.4 overs triggered a dramatic collapse of Army innings as they lost the remaining seven wickets for just 21 runs. Chauhan was dismissed in the last ball of the same over.

Amar Routela grabbed four wickets in his 5.1 overs bowling conceding 20 runs while Kamal Airee claimed three wickets in his 10-over spell including a maiden. He conceded 56 runs.

Sudurpaschim will vie against Gandaki at TU Ground, and Police will take on Province 1 at Mulpani on Sunday.