Saurav Khanal once again starred with the bat and led Western Region to a comprehensive 95-run victory over Sharad Vesawkar’s Central Region in the Prime Minister Cup One-Day National cricket tournament on Wednesday. 

Put in to bat first in the Group ‘A’ game, Khanal’s unbeaten 58-ball 78 lifted Western to 202-8 in 50 overs before three wickets each from Lal Bahadur Adhikari and Rohit Kumar Paudel saw Central innings fold for 107 runs in 40.3 overs. The defeat leaves Central in danger of being eliminated from the first round after they shared points against Mid-western Region in their first match on Tuesday. Central next play title contenders Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club on Friday where even a victory might not be sufficient.

Western, who lost to APF in their first game on Monday, lead the table with two points from two games on net run-rate. They will next play Midwest on Thursday where a victory will ensure their place in the semi-finals. APF have two points from one match.

Khanal also had slammed a whirlwind 49-ball 90 not out against APF in a rain-affected match that Western lost by 16 runs but his sensible knock on Wednesday helped the team build on to a total that was ultimately too massive. “We were losing few wickets in the beginning but we knew that if we stay at the crease and collect some runs in the last five our seven overs, we can have a defendable total,” said Khanal.

Western were heading towards a low total after they lost five wickets for just 87 runs in 31.3 overs. Khanal joined his skipper Antim Thapa and resurrected the innings with a 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Thapa made 34 off 71 and after his departure, Khanal added another 51 runs for the seventh wicket with Krishna Karki (14).

Man-of-the-match Khanal hit six sixes and three boundaries, adding to the 11 sixes he had hit in the first match. Opener Anil Gurung also chipped in a 68-ball 28 with three fours and a six sharing 43 runs for the second wicket with Bidhan Shrestha (18). 

Kishor Mahato took three wickets for Central with Nandan Yadav returning the tight figures of 2-21 from 10 overs.

Bipin Khatri and spinner Lal Bahadur Adhikari did the damage for Central, picking up key wickets as they never recovered from the early wobble. Khatri removed opener Bhupendra Thapa and Hari Shankar Sah, reducing Central to 18-2 in 7.1 overs. Adhikari then got rid of Sumit Maharjan (10), skipper Sharad (seven) and another opener Ishan Pandey to leave Central in tatters. Pandey top scored for Central with a 48-ball 24. No 10 Mahato prolonged Western’s wait for victory scoring 20 off 43 balls. Paudel polished off the tail with three wickets.

Vesawkar knew the defeat could be costly for his team. “It’s a tournament with less number of teams. So every defeat can be dangerous. To make the matter worse, our match against Midwest was washed out. Now we play against APF and have to give our all to stay in contention,” said Vesawkar.

Summary

Western Region 202-8 (S Khanal 78 not out, A Thapa 34; K Mahato 3-42, N Yadav 2-21) beat Central Region 107 all out in  40.3 overs (I Pandey 24, K Mahato 20 not out; L Adhikari 3-21, RK Poudel 3-10) by 95 runs

Man-of-the-match: S Khanal