Sudurpaschim Province clinched their first-ever Prime Minister Cup Women’s National Twenty20 cricket tournament title defeating Province 1 by six wickets in the final at the Janata Cricket Park in Itahari on Saturday.

Chasing a 102-run target, Sudurpaschim required eight runs in the last over. Samjhana Khadka picked a single off the first delivery of the over by Province 1 captain Rubina Chhetry, also the national captain. Kabita Joshi smashed a six on the following delivery to pour cold water on Province 1’s slim hopes for victory and levelled the score. Joshi picked a single on the penultimate ball of the over as they secured their maiden title.

Earlier, opting to bat first, Chhetry's Province 1 posted 101-5 on the back of an unbeaten 48 runs from opener Kajal Shrestha. She cracked eight hits to the fence in her 63-ball knock.

Chhetry, who came to open the innings with Shrestha, played for a 25-ball 14 and Apsari Begam contributed 15 off 20. Chhetry hit a boundary before she was caught by Kabita Kunwar off a Ritu Kanoujiya’s delivery. Begam was then caught by Samjhana Khadka off a delivery by Manisha Chaudhary. She smashed two boundaries.

Apart from the trio, none of the Province 1 batter reached double-digit scores.

Sudurpaschim bowler Chaudhary pocketed two wickets in her four-over spell, conceding 18 runs. Kanoujiya claimed one wicket.

Chasing the target, Sudurpaschim made a shaky start to their innings, losing opener and captain Bindu Rawal for seven runs, Kabita Kunwar for 12 runs and Rubi Poddar for eight runs with 37-3 on the board.

But the unconquered duo Khadka and Joshi and Dolly Bhatta led the fightback as Sudurpaschim achieved their target losing four wickets.

Khadka hit 27 runs off 33 balls that included two hits to the fence. Bhatta played a quickfire knock of 22 studded with a boundary and two sixes. Sabnam Rai had her caught by Lakita Rajbanshi.

Joshi, who hit the winning single, smashed a four and a six each in her 20-ball knock.

Province 1 bowlers Sabnam Rai, Chhetry, Sangita Rai and Hiranmayee Roy claimed one wicket each.

The winner Sudurpaschim collected a purse of Rs500,000 and a trophy, while the runners-up team Province 1 walked away with Rs300,000.

Kabita Kunwar of Province 1 was declared the player of the series and the best batter of the tournament. She collected Rs50,000 for her feat, including Rs30,000 as the player-of-the-series and Rs20,000 for the best batter. She was also named an emerging player and rewarded with a scooter.

Kunwar collected 134 runs in four innings, including two half-centuries. She also claimed two wickets. Her teammate Manisha Chaudhary was declared the best bowler and collected Rs20,000. She claimed a total of 11 wickets in five matches.