Nepal Police Club (NPC) registered the best win of the Men’s PM Cup history defeating Madhesh Province by 193 runs at the Lamahi-based Deukhuri International Cricket Ground on Saturday.

NPC bettered their record, which they set in the fifth edition, by a run while restricting Madhesh to 95 runs against their target of 289. NPC had defeated Bagmati by 192 runs on October 30, 2022.

This is not the first time that Madhesh are on the receiving end of such a bitter defeat. Madhesh were the opponents when NPC won by 191 runs on November 8, 2022, as well.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, NPC saw a quality top-order batting. Opener Arjun Saud and in-at-three Dilip Nath failed to reach their individual half-centuries by three and five runs, respectively. But in-at-four and five, Aarif Sheikh and Dipendra Singh Airee, completed theirs before departing for 55 off 54 and 63 off 36, respectively.

Similarly, Deukhuri Cricket Ground was favourable for Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi again. After a six-wicket haul against APF on Friday, Rajbanshi bagged a fifer against Madhesh on Saturday at the same venue.

In-at-six Dipesh Das’ 31 off 59 was the only decent inning for Madhesh as the top five batters departed for single figures. The top five wickets fell for Madhesh within eight overs. Pawan Sarraf, who smashed two consecutive 50s in his last two games, was clean bowled at 3 off 4 by Rajbanshi.

It was Rajbanshi’s fourth five-wicket haul in Men’s PM Cup. Currently the second leading wicket-taker in the tournament history with 82 wickets, Rajbanshi is inching closer to Shahab Alam’s record.

Alam, who bagged two wickets for Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) against Koshi Province at Siddharthanagar Cricket Ground on Saturday, has 88 wickets. TAC defeated Koshi by 7 wickets with Trit Raj Das hitting the second century of the season.

Rajbanshi and Alam are also in the race for this season’s leading wicket taker. As of Saturday, Rajbanshi and Alam have 15 and 13 wickets, respectively, in four games each.

Meanwhile, Sujan Thapaliya (42 off 54), Sonu Ansari (44 off 74) and Suvan Gahatraj (51 off 57) were crucial to take Koshi to a defending total of 230 runs in 49.3 overs. However, Das, staying not out at 112 off 139, alongside Basir Ahamad (61 off 62), guided TAC to their fourth win in four games.

Das is now the leading run scorer this season. He has 248 runs in four games and is followed by Sarraf (172 runs in three games) and Kushal Bhurtel (166 in four games).

Nevertheless, despite the win, TAC lost their position at the top of the points table. With eight points each, NPC now have a better net run rate than TAC.

Nonetheless, it was a big heartbreak for Koshi. Koshi had scored their highest total of the season against TAC, but they could not prevent their fourth loss in four games.