Gandaki Province brought an end to Bagmati Province’s rejuvenation at the Prime Minister Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament after they defeated Rit Gautam’s side by three wickets in Kirtipur on Tuesday.

Bagmati were on a four-match winning streak following two opening losses but suffered their third defeat in seven matches after they flopped with both the ball and the bat at the TU Cricket Ground.

Bagmati openers Ashutosh Ghiraiya and Ishan Pandey racked up 90 runs for the first wicket after opting to bat first but could only post 198 after their remaining batters could not exploit the strong start.

Kamal Pariyar was the pick of the Gandaki bowling returning 4-31 that also included the wickets of Ghiraiya and Pandey.

Pariyar first broke Bagmati’s opening stand, trapping Ghiraiya leg before in the 21st over and dismissed Pandey, caught by Krish Ayer, in the 23rd over.

After the departure of the openers, Bagmati lost wickets at regular intervals.

But Ashok Paudel (30) and Bipin Acharya (38) put up some resistance to drag Bagmati to an average total.

In the run chase, Karan Pangeni scored a half-century to help Gandaki chase down the target in 49.3 overs.

Openers Sameer Kandel (19) and Ishwar Chhetri (36) added 55 runs before a 70-run partnership from Muskhan Thapa (27) and Karan Pangeni helped them reach 202-7.

Pangeni’s 79-run knock featured six fours and three sixes.

Bagmati’s Surya Tamang, who has taken 21 wickets this season, could only pick one wicket but still returned the figures of 10-2-19-1. Pratis GC took two wickets.

Bagmati are in the second position with eight points but have played three matches more than leaders Nepal Police Club, who are unbeaten this season.

Third-placed Madhesh also have eight points having played a game less than Bagmati.

Armed Police Force Club’s decline continued as they lost to their departmental rivals Tribhuvan Army Club by four wickets at the Siddharthanagar Cricket Stadium to suffer a third consecutive defeat.

APF had won their first two fixtures but their latest slump leaves them in the seventh position after five matches.

Captain Rohit Paudel, who scored a half-century, was the only top performer for the APF, who were sent in to bat first after losing the toss. His 59 runs came off 103 balls.

Bhuvan Karki (16) and Sumit Maharjan (14) were the only batters to touch the double digit figure for APF, who were bundled out for 121.

Sompal Kami took 3-24 for Army that also included the wicket of Paudel.

Avinash Karn also bagged two wickets.

Army made a terrible start to their run chase losing openers Irman Sheikh (16) and Santosh Karki (11), and Sandeep Rajali (6) and Bihim Sharki (2) but Binod Bhandari’s 34 not out, accompanied by Kushal Malla’s 19 and Basir Ahamad’s 18, helped Army reach 122 at the loss of six wickets.

A third win after five matches moved Army up to fourth in the table.

No win

Koshi’s winless run continued for a seventh game in a row after they lost to Karnali by six wickets at the Mulpani Cricket Ground.

Koshi’s Sujan Thapaliya scored a half-century but was the lone fighter in his side’s batting order that saw Saujan Ghimire providing the second highest 12 runs.

Dinesh Adhikari took a remarkable 4-18 and Prakash Jaishi returned a bowling figure of 3-36 for Karnali.

In the chase, Arjun Gharti scored an unbeaten 50 to guide Karnali to 153-4 in 28.3 overs. Opener Bipin Shahi scored 28 and Himanshu Shahi made 24 not out in Karnali’s win—their third of the season.

Karnali are in sixth place. Koshi are at the bottom and are without a win.

The top two teams qualify for the final.