Kiran Thagunna lights up PM Cup’s Day 2 with first century of seventh edition
Kiran scores 121 off 101, the fifth highest individual score in the tournament’s history. Kiran Thagunna of Sudurpaschim raises his bat after scoring a half-century in the Men’s PM Cup fixture against Gandaki at the Lamahi-based Deukhuri Cricket Stadium in Dang on Monday. Photo: Courtesy of CAN
Sudurpaschim Province’s Kiran Thagunna took the spotlight on Day 2 of the seventh edition of Men’s PM Cup with the maiden century of the 2025 season. Thagunna’s century helped Sudurpaschim bounce back on the positive side as they had lost their first game of the tournament against Karnali on Sunday.
Meanwhile, it was not a good start for Gandaki as they were playing their first game of the tournament. Winning the toss and electing to bat first at the Lamahi-based Deukhuri Cricket Stadium, Gandaki posted a total of 220/8; however, Thagunna’s knock, the fifth highest individual score in the tournament’s history, inspired Sudurpaschim to a six-wicket win with 42 balls in hand.
Pradeep Singh Airee holds the record for the highest individual score in the PM Cup. He scored 158 off 135 while playing for APF against Province 2 in the second edition in 2018.
Thagunna had moved up the order against Gandaki. In-at-six against Karnali, Thagunna had added 13 off 18 as the team got bundled out for 76 while chasing 156. He came in at four against Gandaki with the team’s score: 32/2 in 10.3 overs.
Thagunna completed his half-century in 48 deliveries (3 fours, 3 sixes). In the next 43 deliveries, he smashed four fours and two sixes to score the first century of the seventh edition. He stayed not out (121 off 101) with skipper Narayan Joshi (38 off 47) as the team cruised to victory.
Similarly, Thagunna’s century was the 25th century of the Men’s PM Cup. He bested Naren Bhatta, who scored 121 off 122 for Sudurpaschim against Madhesh in the sixth edition, to take the fifth place.
Besides Thagunna’s century, there were seven other half-centuries recorded across the three games on Day 2.
Other half-centuries
Teenagers and former U19 teammates Arjun Kumal and Deepak Dumre scored individual half-centuries and aided their team Gandaki to a decent total of 220 against Sudurpaschim. Kumal got bowled at 57 off 95 while Dumre was stumped at 60 off 74.
Likewise, Bibek Magar too scored a half-century for Bagmati while chasing 263 against Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC), runners-up of the previous edition. But Magar’s 51 off 50 fell widely short as Bagmati’s batting order collapsed.
Four wickets by spinner Shahab Alam and three by pacer Aakash Chand helped TAC bundle out Bagmati at 128 runs in 27 overs and win the game by 134 runs.
Santosh Karki was the highest scorer for TAC with 76 off 98 while TAC’s skipper Binod Bhandari was three runs short of his ninth half-century.
If Bhandari had reached the 50-run mark against Bagmati, he would have equalled Rohit Kumar Paudel’s record of nine half-centuries in the PM Cup. Yet, Bhandari holds the record of most centuries—three—in PM Cup.
It was the first win for TAC as they played their first game of the edition at Siddhartha Cricket Stadium, Siddharthanagar, on Monday. On the other hand, it was a second loss for Bagmati as they lost to APF by 100 runs on Sunday.
Showcasing the domination of departmental clubs, Nepal Police Club (NPC) also registered a win during their first game of the edition—against Lumbini at Extratech Oval, Bhairahawa—on Monday.
Hosts of the seventh edition, Lumbini Province had won their first game on Sunday by defeating Koshi by 26 runs, but they could not keep the momentum against a better side, NPC.
Featuring national superstars like Kushal Bhurtel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Gulshan Jha, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Karan KC, among others, NPC, the defending champions, posted 249/6 against Lumbini after electing to bat first.
Bhurtel (59 off 75) and Sheikh (56 off 79) scored individual half-centuries; Jha stayed not out at 36 off 23; and skipper Airee, world’s No.2 T20I all-rounder, was stumped for 6 off 10.
While Airee could not do enough with the bat, he compensated with the ball. In his nine overs, Airee bowled two maidens, took one wicket and conceded only 23 runs. Likewise, Rajbanshi and Sagar Dhakal bagged two and three wickets for 23 and 32 runs, respectively.
Amid NPC’s quality bowling attack, in-at-five Prajjwol Thapa was the only Lumbini batter to put up a good fight. Thapa (72 off 94) fell as the ninth wicket in 49.2 overs with the team requiring 88 runs in four balls. Rajbanshi ended the final four deliveries with dots.
Extratech Oval has a rest day on Tuesday while Siddharthanagar and Lamahi will host Madhesh vs Koshi and Karnali vs Gandaki, respectively.
Nayak Paudel covers sports for The Kathmandu Post. He previously worked at the Post (2018–19) and spent over five years at The Rising Nepal. His reporting spans crime, health, education, and social issues.
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