Skipper Deepak Bohora gave an all round performance as Province 3 registered their second consecutive victory to put their one foot in the semi-finals of the Manmohan Memorial Inter-Province U-16 National Cricket Tournament on Thursday.

Bohora, fresh from his recent appearance in the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament, took a five-for and returned to contribute with a majority of runs in an eight-wicket crushing of Karnali Province. Karnali’s decision to bat first in morning conditions at the TU Stadium backfired after they were bundled out for just 96 runs in 23 overs.

Bohora led the reply for Province 3 who raced to victory in just 11.1 overs reaching 97-2. Province 3 lost Bipin Bikram Shahi (two) early in the game before Bohora and his national U-16 teammate Aaish Bhattarai added 61 runs for the second wicket. Bohora lost his wicket for a 24-ball 35 with seven boundaries but his departure hardly departure with Bhattarai holding firm.

Bhattarai got involved in a 28-run unbroken stand for the third wicket with Abhishek Upadhyaya and remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 31. His innings included three hits to the fence.

Earlier, Semanta Ghimire took two of the first three wickets reducing Karnali to 7-3. Dilip Sunar and Binit Khatri tried to consolidate the innings with a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket before the collapse resumed for them. Man-of-the-match Bohora wreaked havoc in the middle and lower order returning the figures of 5-12 from five overs.

Khatri top scored for Karnali with a 46-ball 25 with one boundary. Sunar hit three boundaries in his 30-ball 24, while Unish Bikram Shahi’s 31-ball 22 included two fours and a six.

In the second match of the day, Sudurpaschim Province overcame Gandaki Province by four wickets in another match dominated by the bowlers. Gandaki were 90 all out in 20.5 overs following a collective bowling effort from Sudurpaschim. They reached 93-6 in 22.5 overs with No 4 batsman Sandesh Bhatta holding the innings together.

Sudurpaschim were pushed to back foot after they were reduced to 7-3 but Bhatta got involved in two crucial partnerships to sail his team home. He shared 38 runs for the fourth wicket with Anil Thapa (23) and unbeaten 37 for the seventh with Ashish Bhatta (17).

Bhatta made 38 not out from 52 balls with four boundaries. Nitesh Giri was the lone bowler for Gandaki to keep his side in the game with mouthwatering figures of 3-11 from six overs.

Earlier, man-of-the-match Sachin Badayak did the early damage for Gandaki who kept losing wickets on regular intervals. No 4 Avishek Thapa was stranded on a 48-ball 29 not out with three boundaries and Roshan Kant Sigdel (14) was their next best scorer. Badayak took 3-19 from 3.5 and captain Suwash Ayer returned 2-16 from four.