Fast bowler Yagya Man Kumal tore through the batting order picking up seven wickets as Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club defended a low total to hammer Province 1 by 92 runs in the Manmohan Memorial Cup One Day National cricket tournament on Friday.

Electing to bat first, the PM   Cup One Day National champions APF failed to make the most of a decent start and were bundled out for 154 in just 36 overs. But Kumal ran through Province 1 batting order with his seam bowling to shut out their innings for a tournament-low 62 in 17.5 overs.

Man-of-the-match Kumal returned with figures of 7-16  from 5.5 overs. Spinner Bhuwan Karki also took two wickets, while another young seamer Kamal Singh Airee had one scalp. Dipesh Kandel top scored for Province 1 with 18 runs. Siddhant Lohani, who left Nepal Police Club (NPC) to represent his province, fell for duck along with Minash Thapa, skipper Pushpa Thapa and Manoj Mandal. 

Earlier, Aasif Sheikh and Airee top scored for APF with 33 runs each while Puran BK also chipped in 28.  Kandel was the allround performer for Province 1 picking up four wickets while Lohani claimed three. On Saturday, APF will take on Province 4 where a victory will take them to the semi-finals. Two other departmental teams, Nepal Police Club and Tribhuvan Army Club, are already in semi-finals.