Sports
MM Cup National Cricket: Nath century puts NPC in final
Dilip Nath slammed a magnificient century to .steer Nepal Police Club (NPC) into the MM Cup National Cricket Tournament final with a 200-run rout of Province 7 on Thursday.Bedraj Poudel
Dilip Nath slammed a magnificient century to .steer Nepal Police Club (NPC) into the MM Cup National Cricket Tournament final with a 200-run rout of Province 7 on Thursday.
The departmental team piled on a mammoth 323-8 in 50 overs before restricting Province 7 for a lowly 123 runs in 31.3 overs. NPC will play for the title against either Province 1 or Tribhuvan Army Club, who play their second semi-final match on Friday.
Electing to bat first, NPC rode on a flamboyant knock from Nath to post a massive total on the board. Coming at No 3 after the dismissal of opener Sunil Dhamala (10), Nath carried his bat to the end scoring an unbeaten 116 runs. He clobbered nine fours and five sixes in his 125-ball ininings. Nath put on 69-run stand for the third wicket with Prem Tamang, 48 with Yogendra Singh Karki, 58 with Kushal Bhurtel and another 80 runs with skipper Manjit Shrestha to propel the total.
NPC skipper Manjit Shrestha also played a whirwind knock, scoring 53 off 33 balls, while Bhurtel (27), Karki (25) and Tamang (24) all chipped in valuable runs to the total. Bikash Aagri claimed three and Binod Lama took two wickets for Province 7.
In reply, Province 7 were never in hunt with opener Bipin Rawal and No 4 batsman Lokesh Bam scoring 26 runs each. While Rawal hit five boundaries in his 34-ball innings, Bam struck three fours in his 41-ball stay in the crease. With 16 runs to their credit, Narayan Joshi and Narendra Saud were the next best contributor for Province 7 as their chase ended in the 32nd over. Sagar Dhakal was the chief tormenter, picking up five wickets for NPC. Ram Naresh Giri and Nabin Thapa also snared two wicket apiece for the departmental team.