Madhesh Province bounced back in the Men’s PM Cup defeating Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) at Deukhuri International Cricket Stadium, Dang, on Wednesday. While it was a second win for Madhesh in five games, it ended TAC’s five-game winning streak in the tournament.

TAC won the toss and elected to bat first. Bhim Sharki fell short of his century but his 89 off 126 helped Army reach 217/7 in 50 overs.

However, despite posting a defending total, Army could not prevent Madhesh’s batting lineup from chasing it. Madhesh scored 219/7 in 48 overs to win the game by three wickets.

There was not a single half-century for Madhesh in the chase, but four batters scored 35+ runs. Of them, skipper Anil Kumar Sah, who did not open today, fell short of his 50 by five runs.

Madhesh’s first win came against Koshi on March 11 when the province played their first game. However, Madhesh had failed in the last three games before a surprising win over TAC on Day 11.

While TAC could not safeguard their winning run, Nepal Police Club (NPC), the defending champions, won their sixth straight game, defeating Gandaki, at Siddharthanagar Cricket Ground, Rupandehi, on Wednesday.

Gandaki elected to bat first, but they could not stand long against in-form Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi. Rajbanshi bagged his fourth consecutive 5+ wicket haul as Gandaki were all out for 92 runs in 23.2 overs. Gulshan Kumar Jha also picked four wickets for NPC.

Arjun Kumal was the lone hero for Gandaki as he scored 48 off 63. But Dipendra Singh Airee completed his 50 for NPC. Airee (54 off 23) departed leaving NPC at 76/3 in 9.3 overs with opener Arjun Saud (18 off 45) and Dilip Nath (10 off 17) chasing the target in 16 overs.

Nevertheless, Sudurpaschim also registered their second win in six games defeating Lumbini at Extratech Cricket Oval, Rupandehi.

Sudurpaschim restricted Lumbini to 116 runs in 44.1 overs with four wickets by pacer Hemant Dhami and two each by Sher Malla, Saurya Shrestha and Milan Bohara.

Lumbini tried fighting and sent half of the Sudurpaschim lineup (61/5) back to the pavilion in 21.2 overs. But Kiran Thagunna (43 off 43) and skipper Narayan Joshi (25 off 27) reached 117 runs in 31.1 overs. It was the second loss for third-placed Lumbini in six games.