Sudurpaschim Province and Province 2 set the title clash of the Manmohan Memorial Inter-Province U-16 National cricket tournament on Monday.

In the first semi-final at the TU Stadium, Province 2 defeated recently crowned U-16 School League champions Province 3 by four wickets on the back of a fine performance with the bat from Meghraj Mahara. Sudurpaschim defeated Province 1 by 30 runs following an allround performance from their skipper Suwash Ayer.

Electing to bat first, a collective batting effort lifted Sudurpaschim to a challenging 165-9 in 30 overs. Ayer then returned to wreak havoc in the Province 1 middle order to bundle them out for 135 in 25.2 overs. Province 1 lost opener Raj Khatiwada early in the game before a 63-run second wicket partnership between Einstein Rijal and Suman Sundas kept them in the chase.

The 79-1 took no time to be 106-6 after Province 1 lost both the set batsmen with Barline Giri sending back Rijal for a 44-ball 35. Rijal struck boundaries. Simran Rai gave a faint hope scoring a 21-ball 37 with four boundaries but by then the match was already out of Province 1 grasp. Sundas top scored for Province 1 with a fluent 44, his 35-ball knock included six boundaries. Man-of-the-match Ayer took 4-22 from 5.2 overs.

Like their opponents, Sudurpaschim also had a poor start as they lost opener Arun Mahar for a duck. Ayer led the charge with the bat adding 54 runs for the second wicket with Dhirendra Thakur and 28 for the third with Sandeep Bista (22). Ayer made 43 off 41 with seven hits to the fence and Thakur chipped in 25 off 25 with two boundaries. Anil Thapa (20) and Ashish Bista pushed Sudurpaschim beyond 150-mark. Bista contributed 26 off 32 with one boundary. Sarwan Kisku took 3-32 from six overs and Bipin Mahato had two scalps for Province 1.

Earlier, two wickets each from Sheikh Imran and Arbaj Ansari along with three run outs helped Province 2 restrict Province 3 to 121-9 in 30 overs. Mahara anchored Province 2 innings leading his side to 121-6 in 25 overs. Province 2 were 45-2 and Mahara put on a crucial 56 runs for the third wicket with Nikhil Singh.

Although Province 2 went on to lose four quick wickets, Mahara held firm to hand his team the victory. Mahara scored an unbeaten 47 off 64 balls, his innings laced with five boundaries. Singh hit two sixes and as many boundaries in his 33-ball 32. Tilak Bhandari and Krish Karki took two wickets each for Province 2. Aaish Bhattarai had top scored for Province 3 with a 45-ball 27 and Prashant Mahat made 22 off 37. Both the batsmen hit two boundaries each.