Armed Police Force Club’s winning run came to an early halt after the holders lost to Madhesh Province by five wickets in the Prime Minister Cup Men’s Cricket Tournament in Kirtipur on Thursday, courtesy of an allround show from Rupesh Singh.

Singh took a three-wicket haul and scored 72 not out to help Madhesh overcome a thrilling encounter at the TU Cricket Ground. It was Madhesh’s first win over APF in the PM Cup history.

Pawan Sarraf and Niraj Yadav also scored half centuries for Madhesh.

APF were looking to cement their position at the top two of the ten-team standings.

Their opener Aasif Sheikh, who also opens the batting for the national team, and national team captain Rohit Paudel gave the departmental side a strong start putting on a 132-run stand for the second wicket after Singh sent back Prajwal Shahi for a duck in the third ball of the first over. Sheikh scored 59 off 69 balls that featured five fours and three sixes and Paudel cracked 58 runs facing 74 deliveries that included five fours and two sixes.

But APF’s middle order collapsed following the departure of their star batters Paudel and Sheikh, with Pradip Paswan taking 3-35 that included the wickets of Sundeep Jora (20), Sumit Maharjan (9) and Lokesh Bam (6).

APF were suddenly reeling at 185-7 in 41 overs but Amar Routela scored 49 not out to guide Paudel’s side to 246-9.

Ranjit Kumar took two wickets and Arniko pocketed one for Madhesh.

Madhesh started poorly and looked to be in trouble at 63-3 in 18 overs.

But Sarraf (64 off 66) and Niraj (52 off 70) resurrected their innings with a 59-run stand before Singh joined force with Niraj putting on another brilliant 87-run partnership to help Madhesh post 247-5 and pull off their second win after four matches.

Singh hit four boundaries and three maximums in his unconquered 72-ball knock. Sarraf smashed four fours and five sixes, while Yadav hit three fours and two sixes.

Paudel and Ramesh Kurmi took two wickets each for APF. Mousom Dhakal also picked one.

APF’s loss benefited Sudurpaschim, who defeated Gandaki by 108 runs at the Siddharthanagar Cricket Stadium to climb to the top of the table.

Sudurpaschim saw their top order flop losing six wickets with 72 on the scoreboard but managed to post 201 in the allotted 50 overs, thanks to a late fightback from Kiran Thagunna and Narayan Joshi.

Thagunna scored 60 runs off 73 balls and put on a 75-run stand with Joshi, who made 46 off 56 balls, for the seventh wicket.

Bipin Khatri and Ankit Neupane grabbed three wickets each for Gandaki.

Sher Malla then took a five-wicket haul to restrict Gandaki to 93 all out in 30.2 overs.

Malla, who had bagged 4-35 against Karnali, took 5-23 in his 8.2 over bowling spell to give Sudurpaschim their third victory in as many matches.

-six-wicket haul-

Shahab Alam also shone with the ball for Tribhuvan Army Club at the Mulpani Cricket Ground.

Alam returned an impressive match figures of 6-14 to help Army bundle out Koshi for 88 after choosing to field first.

Captain Ankit Subedi’s 41 off 37 balls was the highest and the only double-digit figure for Koshi.

In the run-chase, Imran Sheikh played 25-ball 32 before Santosh Karki’s 32 not out 27 and Kushal Malla’s 22 (7) helped Army comfortably reach 92-1 in 24.4 overs.

Army are third with four points from three matches. APF are fourth, also on four points.