Sudurpaschim’s Kiran Thagunna created a buzz on Sunday with his second century of the seventh edition of the Men’s PM Cup facing Koshi at the Lamahi-based Deukhuri International Cricket Stadium.

Smashing the second delivery in the 38th over by Sujan Thapaliya for a six, Thagunna completed his century in 81 deliveries with the help of 11 fours and four sixes. When Thagunna entered the crease, Sudurpaschim were at 54/4 in 10.5 overs.

But by the time Thagunna got caught at 115 off 91 as the eighth wicket in 40.5 overs, Sudurpaschim were at 229 runs. They got bundled at 242 runs in 43.4 overs.

Thagunna’s struggle and rise

Thagunna was in the squad of the Far Western Development Region (FWDR) in the inaugural edition in 2017. He then played two games and scored three runs.

He then missed the tournament in the second (2018) and third (2019) editions. When he returned to the squad of Sudurpaschim in the fourth edition (2021), Thagunna played four games and scored only 29 runs.

As a result, he again failed to be in the playing set in the fifth edition in 2022.

The statistics until the fifth edition show that Thagunna struggled a lot with his form, failing to be in the squad for three editions. However, it has not been the same since the sixth edition (2024) last year.

Thagunna was the sixth-leading run scorer in the previous edition with 284 runs in eight innings (nine games), above players like Rohit Kumar Paudel (273 runs), Aarif Sheikh (256) and Kushal Malla (246). He had three half-centuries with a highest score of 68.

And this season, he has smashed two centuries becoming only the third batter to score two 100s in one edition of the PM Cup. Thagunna’s first century (21 off 101) was against Gandaki on March 10.

“I was not thinking much, just wanted to play normal cricket,” Thagunna said in the post-match presentation after receiving the Player of the Match award in the win over Koshi.

With the presenter repeatedly asking him about his feelings after the second century of the season, Thagunna, a reluctant speaker, kept saying, “I am happy, nothing more, played good cricket, that’s all.”

Throughout the seven editions of the tournament, only two other batters have achieved the feat: Binod Bhandari of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Dipendra Singh Airee of Nepal Police Club (NPC).

In the fifth edition in 2022, Airee scored two centuries, 108 off 82 and 140 off 125, against Bagmati and TAC, respectively.

Similarly, Bhandari scored two centuries in the previous edition. He smashed 113 off 93 and 100 off 132 against Madhesh and Karnali, respectively.

While Airee’s centuries include those two in 2022, Bhandari has three centuries altogether. Bhandari’s first century, 111 off 76, came in 2021 against Gandaki.

Likewise, APF’s Aasif Sheikh is the only other batter alongside Bhandari, Airee and Thagunna to have more than one century in the competition’s history. Sheikh scored 130 off 136 and 108 off 112, both against Karnali, in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

Match Day 15

Regarding the current edition, TAC’s Trit Raj Das is the only other batter to score a century. Das (112 off 139) also scored his century against Koshi, on March 15.

Das, who scored 31 off 39 against Lumbini at Siddhartha Cricket Stadium on Sunday, was overtaken by Thagunna in the race for the leading run scorer in the edition. Thagunna now has 337 runs while Das has 333. None of the other batters has crossed the 300-run mark this season.

Both Das and Thagunna’s teams won their respective games on Sunday. Batting first, TAC posted a 244-run target, on the back of Basir Ahmad’s 86 off 104; in reply, Lumbini were all out for 112 runs in 47.2 overs. Shahab Alam bagged four wickets for TAC.

Meanwhile, Sudurpaschim posted a 243-run target to Koshi.

Alongside allowing Thagunna a blasting century, Koshi were not happy for giving away 32 runs as extras—21 wides, 6 byes and 5 leg byes—because none of Sudurpaschim's batters, except for Thagunna, crossed the 20-run mark. Sudurpaschim’s second-highest individual score was opener Tek Rawat’s 16 off 22.

In the chase, Koshi’s opener Shakib Haq (62 off 66) and in-at-three Aaish Bhattarai (36 off 90) gave hope in the beginning, but the middle order got destroyed. In at seven and eight, skipper Ankit Subedi and Samir Karki contributed 38 each but Koshi got all out for 211 runs in 45.1 overs.

It was the seventh loss for Koshi in eight games Sudurpaschim registered their third win.

Sheikh had the opportunity to join Bhandari in the club of three centuries on Sunday when APF faced Gandaki at Extratech Oval but he was stumped in 21.5 overs when he was at 80. Still, APF got to 258 in 49.2 overs.

Except for in-at-four Deepak Dumre, all other Gandaki batters scored in double figures. Yet, Gandaki could only reach 227/8 in 50 overs. APF, in their eighth game, registered their fifth win of the tournament while it was Gandaki’s seventh loss.