While TAC remained unbeaten in five games to stay atop Group ‘A’ with 10 points, Birgunj made it through at the expense of Region No 5 Nepalgunj on net run rate after tying on six points from five matches. Region No 1 Biratnagar (4 pts), Region No 8 Pokhara (2pts) and Region No 7 Janakpur (zero) were already eliminated.

At the TU grounds, Region No 6 Baitadi opened their tournament campaign with an easy seven-wicket victory over Region No 9 Dhangadi riding on a five-wicket haul from Yogendra Karki.

Having all but qualified for the semi-finals, Birgunj needed to make sure that they do not lose against a star-studded TAC by a margin of above 150 runs at the Pulchowk grounds. They did extremely well reducing TAC to 131-8 in 34 overs. But Mandal defied their bowlers with his second century of the tournament and a late charge from Bikram Sov lifted them to 262-9 in 50 overs.

Sov then returned to paralyse Birgunj batting with a four-wicket haul to bundle them out for 117 in 26.2 overs. Opener Amit Shrestha, who fell to Sov in the 13th over, made 36 while Anil Sah scored a run-a-ball 43. Sov finished with 4-45 and Rahul Kumar BK also picked up 4-30. Chandra Saud took two scalps.

Earlier, TAC were heading towards their lowest total  before Mandal rebuilt the innings with a 79-run stand for the ninth wicket with Sov. Mandal, who completed his half century off 99 balls, took just 37 balls more to move to triple figures before losing his wicket to Hasim Ansari. Mandal made 113 off 146 balls with 10 boundaries.

After Mandal’s departure, Sov took the responsibility hitting seven fours and two sixes in his 43-ball 53 not out. He shared an unbroken 52-run stand with Avinash Karn (11). Irshad Ahmed, Yashin Hawari and Ramnaresh Giri picked up two wickets each for Birgunj.

In Pulchowk, Karki was too hot to handle as Dhangadi were restricted for 89 in 37.2 overs. Raju Rijal was the only Dhangadi batsman to offer some resistance with a 74-ball 39. Kamal Airee bagged two wickets for Baitadi who cantered to 90-3 in 20 overs.

Openers Roshan Nepali (22) and Prem Tamang laid the foundation for the Baitadi. Binod Lama removed Nepali, Umesh Pahari (duck) and Prashant Bista (nine) in quick successions before Karki and Tamang finished it off with a 21 run stand. Tamang made 31 and man-of-the-match Karki scored a 22-ball 16.

Ton-up Mandal in record books

KATHMANDU: Anil Mandal of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) became the first batsman to score three centuries in Senior One Day National Tournament after smashing a ton in their 145-run victory over Region No 2 Birgunj on Monday. Mandal had joined Paresh Lohani, Raju Khadka and Amit Shrestha’s record of scoring two centuries in Nationals after hitting a hundred against Region No 7 Janakpur on Friday. In breaking the record on Monday, he also became the second batsman after Shrestha to score two centuries in a single edition of the Nationals.