Anil Sah scored a century as Madhesh Province mauled Gandaki Province by 145 runs at the TU Cricket Ground to climb to the third position of the Prime Minister Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament on Thursday.

Bagmati Province defeated Sudurpaschim Province by 97 runs at the Mulpani Cricket Ground to revive their momentum, while Armed Police Force bounced back from three straight losses to beat Lumbini Province by seven wickets at the Siddharthanagar Cricket Stadium.

Madhesh climbed to the third position with 10 points—level with Bagmati and tournament favourites Nepal Police Club—but Harishankar Shah’s men have already played eight matches—meaning their hopes to reach the finals will still depend on the results of other fixtures.

Madhesh play Lumbini Province in their last group match on Saturday and must win if they have to keep afloat their chance of reaching the final.

Bagmati’s four-match winning streak had come to an end on Tuesday when they suffered a shock three-wicket defeat against Gandaki Province—their third defeat of the season.

The redemption win moved Bagmati up to second position in the 10-team standings but their chances to qualify for the final is also uncertain, having already played eight games.

Sudurpaschim were also in the race for the top two positions but defeats against Madhesh on Monday and now Bagmati have cracked their march. They have eight points and have three matches in hand but a tough journey awaits as they face departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club, APF Police in their remaining fixture.

Police are the only team who have maintained a perfect record in the tournament. They lead the standings with 10 points from five matches.

APF’s bid to reach the final also hangs in balance. They have six points from six matches and are in the sixth position.

Army are also in contention for the final. They occupy the fourth spot with eight points from six matches.

The top two teams advance to the final, while the top four teams qualify for the Men’s Elite Trophy.

At Kirtipur, Anil Sah won the game for Madhesh with a remarkable century. Sah scored 127 runs off 125 balls that featured 11 boundaries and six maximums to help Madhesh, who opted to bat first, post a massive 335-5 total. Arniko Yadav also made a significant contribution with his aggressive unbeaten 34-ball 63 knock.

In reply, Ranjit Kumar took 4-51 and captain Shah returned the match figures of 3-19 to restrict Gandaki to 190 all out in 39.5 overs.

For Bagmati, Ashutosh Ghiraiya scored a half-century and put on a 76-run stand with Rit Gautam for the second wicket to help Bagmati post 247-9. Ghiraiya scored 54 runs in his 62-ball knock that included six fours and three sixes. Gautam made 44 runs facing 61 deliveries.

Sher Malla has been the key man of the Sudurpaschim bowling attack. He took 3-55 against Bagmati to take his wicket tally to 21 this season.

Narayan Joshi also picked three wickets, while Bikash Aagri pocketed two.

Opener Khadak Bohara (21) and Naren Bhatta (41) gave Sudurpaschim a good start, but they could only manage 150 all out after their batting line up could not cope with the Bagmati’s spinners Surya Tamang and Bipin Acharya.

Kiran Thagunna (41) was the other top performer for Sudurpaschim with 41 runs, with seven batters failing to touch the double digit figures.

Tamang and Bipin Acharya took three wickets each. Tamang has now taken 24 wickets in this tournament.

APF also owed their victory to their bowler Ramesh Kurmi, who took a five-wicket haul to restrict Lumbini to 133.

Dilsad Ali provided the highest score for Lumbini with 39 not out off 42 balls. Opener Mrinal Gurung made 34 runs facing 88 deliveries.

Bhuvan Karki also took three wickets for APF.

In the chase, skipper Rohit Paudel, who is also the captain of the national team, scored a fifty and put on a 99-run stand with Puran BK, who was not out on 33 runs, to lead APF to victory.