Defending champions Armed Police Force Club maintained its winning streak in the Lalitpur Mayor Women’s T20 Championship defeating Bagmati Province by eight wickets at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Monday.

The departmental team, APF, are the most successful side of the T20 tournament having won all three previous editions and stayed on track to reach their fourth final—and potentially a record-extending fourth trophy—thanks to a four-wicket haul from Karuna Bhandari and a brilliant batting display from opener Mamta Chaudhary.

APF opted to field first and restricted Bagmati to 73-6 in 20 overs, with Chaudhary playing the destroyer-in-chief as she dismissed opener Kanchan Shrestha (4), Yashoda Bist (3) and Sony Pakhrin (0) to rip apart the top and middle order.

Bagmati’s number one batter Helisha Gurung battled alone scoring 31 off 50 balls but eventually fell in the 15th over to APF skipper Sita Rana Magar, who also dismissed Bagmati captain Ashmina Karmacharya (3).

Bhandari then got her fourth wicket removing Bipasha Shahi in the 16th over.

Khushi Dangol played 14 not out facing 22 deliveries to drag Bagmati past 70 total.

In reply, APF lost Rana Magar for 11 in the 2.5 overs and national team captain Indu Barma for 17 in the 6th over but opener Mamta Chaudhary played 35 not out off 32 balls to guide APF to 74-2 in 11 overs.

Chaudhary also had little help from Rajmati Airee who made 10 runs off 12 balls.

A second straight victory gave APF four points and summit position in the five-team standings.

Sudurpaschim also have four points after defeating Koshi Province by 19 runs in the afternoon. They sit in the second position due to net run rate.

Samjhana Khadka shone the brightest on the day as her half-century helped Sudurpaschim to a moderate 112-8 total.

Khadka scored 54 runs in her 51-ball knock that featured four boundaries.

Sudurpaschim lost their opener Sabitri Dhami for a duck in the fourth delivery of the first over and captain Bindu Rawal for 14 in the fifth.

But Khadka laid a strong foundation for victory with the first fifty in this edition of the tournament despite a disastrous display from other batters, with Rubi Poddar (2), Kabita Joshi (5), Rewati Dhami (0), Shova Rokaya (0) all departing miserably.

Khadka finally found much needed support from Ritu Kanoujiya and the duo put on a 57-run stand for the seventh wicket to guide Sudurpaschim past 100 total.

Tailender Ritu Kanoujiya made 23 runs facing 35 deliveries.

Hiranmayee Roy, Sabnam Rai and Sangita Rai took two wickets each for Koshi, while Alisha Khadiya picked one.

In reply, Kajal Shrestha and Apsari Begam added 52 runs for the second wicket to give Koshi a solid start.

However, after Laxmi Saud dispatched Begam for 23 (34) in the 13th over and Rawal got rid of Shrestha for 33 (40) in the 15th over, Koshi stumbled.

None other batters could score in double digits as Koshi could only manage 93-7 and succumbed to a second straight loss.

Bagmati, who also suffered a second successive loss, lie at the bottom and below fourth-placed Koshi.

Lalitpur Mayor’s XI occupy the third position with two points.