Following their fourth win in a row in a Group ‘A’ game in Pulchowk, TAC accumulated eight points with one league game left. In another Group ‘A’ match, Region No 1 Biratnagar crushed Region No 7 Janakpur by eight wickets to climb to the third spot with four points from four matches.

Region No 2 Birgunj, who were not in action on Saturday, are second in the table with six points, while Region No 5 Nepalgunj are fourth. Pokhara are fifth with two points. Janakpur lost their fourth consecutive match and are out of contention.

Bidhan Shrestha scored an unbeaten half century as Pokhara made 196-8 in 50 overs. Opener Mahesh Chhetri then anchored TAC chase with 70 off 121 balls as they reached 199-7 in 45.4 overs.

TAC were 57-3 after losing Anil Mandal (one), Sunam Gautam (16) and Naresh Budhayer (one). Chhetri then rebuilt the innings with two crucial stands. He shared 47 runs for the fourth wicket with Rahul Kumar BK and another 47 with Rajesh Pulami. BK smashed two sixes and as many boundaries in his 28-ball 33.

Chhetri’s patient innings came to an end after Sushil Kandel bowled him. He hit 11 boundaries. TAC did lose skipper Binod Bhandari (seven) in quick succession but Magar and Indra Kamal Manandhar (22) combined for a 35-run stand to ease the chase. Magar was 26 not out off 53 with two boundaries. Nischal Pandey and Karan KC picked up two wickets each.

Earlier, Shrestha was the lone survivor of TAC’s lethal bowling attack making 58 not out from 91 balls with six fours. Sanjosh Bhattarai was Pokhara’s next best contributor with 30 off 75 that included three hits to the fence. Avinash Karn, Bikram Sob and Magar picked up two wickets each.

At the TU grounds, a collective bowling effort helped Biratnagar bundle out Janakpur for just 161 in 42.3 overs. Alam then played a quick fire knock guiding his team to 167-2 in 24.2 overs.

Biratnagar were already in a comfortable position when Sunny Pun (14) and Avinash Karna (23) were dismissed with the team closing in on triple figures. Alam and Puspa Thapa combined for an unbeaten 88-run partnership in a successful run chase.

Alam made 68 off 49 with seven boundaries and four sixes. Thapa scored 42 off 55 with six boundaries and a six. Alam also starred with the ball picking up two wickets in Janakpur innings.

No 7 batsman Kundan Singh top scored for Janakpur with 32 off 48 hitting three fours, while No 8 Sumit Chandra Dev contributed 41-ball 23 with three boundaries and a six. Mohammad Hazrat Ali took 3-34 from 10 overs fo the winning side.