Armed Police Force (APF) Club have increased pressure on Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) as they are only two points away from challenging for the second spot in the Men’s PM Cup 2025 points table.

TAC are currently placed second with 14 points from seven wins in eight games. APF, on the other hand, reached 12 points with a sixth win in eight games defeating Lumbini at Extratech Cricket Oval on Monday.

APF can best TAC and secure the second spot with a dominating win over Koshi on Wednesday. However, for APF to realise it, TAC needs to lose against first-placed Nepal Police Club (NPC) when they meet in the last game of the league structure on Thursday.

NPC have not lost any game since the last edition making them the favourites this season as well. They have won all seven games and are on the top with 14 points. NPC are playing Karnali on Tuesday before facing TAC.

Similarly, Bagmati, Karnali, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim are in the fight for the remaining spot in the Top 4 and qualify for the Jay Trophy: Men’s Elite Cup.

Match Day 16

Lumbini posted 223/8 against APF in the first inning on the back of opener Mrinal Gurung’s 55 off 87 and skipper Dev Khanal’s 63 off 79.

APF only lost three wickets by the time they took the score to 224 runs in 41.5 overs. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel played a quality knock after a long time alongside Puran BK to take the team to 170/3 in 32.3 overs from 50/2 in the fifth over.

Paudel departed at 71 off 94 while BK stayed not out and guided APF to a win with a score of 72 off 112. Before Monday’s game, Paudel had departed four times in single figures while his highest score was 22.

Likewise, Bagmati destroyed Karnali at the Lamahi-based Deukhuri International Cricket Stadium. Karnali were all out for 58 runs with a fifer by Rijan Dhakal and four wickets from Surya Tamang. It was the seventh-lowest total for a team in PM Cup history.

Bagmati only lost one wicket as Ashutosh Ghiraiya (19 off 20) and Shubh Kansakar (16 off 9) chased the low target successfully in 6.3 overs.

First super over

The third game of Monday saw PM Cup’s first-ever super over in the fixture between Gandaki and Madhesh.

Three individual half-centuries—Rohan BK (64 off 98), Harishankar Sah (51 off 102) and Rupesh Singh (51 off 32)—guided Madhesh to 246/7 in 50 overs.

Gandaki, however, lost three wickets in the first six overs with the score at 16. But it was teenager Arjun Kumal, Nepal’s U-19 international, who scored his maiden century and took the team to 194/8 before departing in 43.5 overs. Kumal scored 106 off 140.

Gandaki lost Sandeep Parajuli as the last wicket in 49.5 overs, but the team were able to equal the total: 246.

Gandaki, batting first in the super over, reached 22 runs losing two wickets. But Madhesh’s opener, Pawan Sarraf and Rupesh Singh could only score nine runs in their over.

Match Day 17 will see Madhesh vs Sudurpaschim and NPC vs Karnali at Extra Tech and Deukhuri, respectively.