A half century from Bhuvan Karki gave Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) a four-wicket win over defending champions Tribhuvan Army Club in the final as they clinched Prime Minister Cup One-Day National Cricket Tournament for the second time at TU ground in Kirtipur on Saturday.

Karki, who came to bat at number four, gave a much needed stability to APF’s run chase scoring 55 runs as they chased 180-run target losing six wickets with nine balls to spare in the 40-over per side match. Earlier, sent to bat first, Army were bowled out for 179 runs in 39 overs.

The game was reduced by 10-over following two-hour delay in kickoff over inclusion of Sompal Kami in the Army’s playing list. The national team allrounder Kami was included in the Army squad before the tournament kick off, but he had not played a single game after he caught dengue and was replaced by Anil Mandal.

The technical committee had given approval to include Kami in the Army squad for final replacing Mandal after they filed a written application 24-hour prior to the match. However, APF captain Sharad Vesawkar argued that Kami would not be eligible to play as he was already replaced by Mandal and his side’s manager was not informed about this.

Finally, the match kicked off with Army including Kami in the playing list. However, Kami failed to make the impact Army needed as they succumbed to second defeat against the arch-rivals in the tournament following a group stage loss.

It was the second PM Cup One-Day title and third final for APF, who had won the second edition in 2018. The two-time champions Army, who have made it to the final on all five editions, lost the summit clash for the third time.

Chasing the moderate target, APF made a shaky start to their innings, losing openers Pradeep Airee on 20 and Aasif Sheikh on 14. The next batter Lokesh Bam was dismissed on eight runs as the score read 3-51.

Airee was caught by Kami off Jeetendra Mukhiya and Sheikh was also bowled out by Kami. Mukhiya made Bam caught by Rohit Paudel.

But Karki played a patient knock of 82-ball studded with four hits to fences and a maximum. The player-of-the-match Karki also shared a 75-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Sumit Maharjan, who contributed 45-ball 34, the second highest of the innings. Karki was run out with scores tied on 179. Maharjan, trapped leg before by Sushan Bhari, hit five fences.

Captain Sharad Vesawkar remained unbeaten on 16 runs facing 19 deliveries.

APF bowler Jitendra Mukhiya pocketed two wickets, while Sompal Kami, Bikram Sob and Sushan Bhari accounted for one wicket each.

Army, who had chased a 305-run target against Police in the semi-final, had a troubled start to their innings losing wickets in quick successions. They lost openers Arjun Saud for 13 runs, Sompal Kami for a duck, and Hari Chauhan on 15 runs with 3-35 on board.

Rohit Paudel, who came to bat at number four, contributed 49 off 56 comprising three fences. Also the highest scorer for Army, he was trapped leg before by Amar Routela. Tailender Jitendra Mukhiya scored not out 24 off 25 while Sushan Bhari scored 19, Rajesh Pulami 18, Kushal Malla 16 and Binod Bhandari 11 runs.

APF bowlers Routel and Mousom Dhakal claimed three scalps each while Kishore Mahato pocketed two. Medium pacer Routela gave away 40 runs in his eight-over bowling and spinner Dhakal conceded 32 runs in as many overs.

The victory in the final made APF richer by Rs1 million while Army walked away with Rs500,000. The two semi-finalists Nepal Police Club and Madhesh Province got Rs50,000 each.

Police captain Dipendra Singh Airee was declared the best batter and player of the series, and won Rs20,000 and 50,000 respectively for his feats. Karan KC of the same team was declared the best bowler (13 wickets) and was rewarded with Rs20,000. Mousom Dhakal (15 wickets) of APF was named emerging player and got a purse of Rs10,000.