Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Province 1 eased to convincing wins in the PM Cup National One-Day cricket tournament on Friday.
APF rode on an allround performance from Sharad Vesawkar to beat Gandaki Province by six wickets at the Mulpani cricket ground, while Province 1 dispatched Karnali Province by 181 runs at the Tribhuvan University Stadium. APF lead the Group ‘A’ standings with maximum six points from three matches while Gandaki are pointless after two games. Province 3 are in second place with four points. Province 1 climbed to third in Group ‘B’ standings behind leaders Tribhuvan Army Club (6) and Nepal Police Club (4).
Put into bat first, Gandaki were bowled out for 125 runs in 41.2 overs before APF overcame the total for the loss of four wickets in just 23 overs. Gandaki were apparently heading for an embarrassing total at 44-6 by the 28th over but tailenders Dipesh Shrestha (27), Bipin Khatri (17) and Kishore Mahato (15) saved their blushes. Bhuvan Karki took 3-22, while Yagyaman Kumal, Amar Singh Routela and Vesawkar also bagged two wickets each.
APF top order batsmen Vesawkar, Aasif Sheikh and Pradeep Airee ensured an easy chase. Airee scored a fluent 33 off 30 balls with five fours and a six while Sheikh made 19-ball 20 with two sixes and as many fours. APF did lose four wickets in quick succession but man-of-the-match Vesawkar, who opened the chase with Sheikh, remained defiant closing out the match with a composed 35 off 54 balls. His innings included four hits to the fence. Dipesh Shrestha took three and Kishore Mahato claimed one wicket for Gandaki.
At the TU Stadium, Province 1 posted 228-8 in 50 overs and dismissed Karnali for a paltry 47 runs. Province 1 had their top order batsmen to thank for to post the total. Siddhanta Lohani, known for his big hittings, curved his natural instinct to top score for the team with 63. Lohani retired hurt after scoring 63. His 90-ball innings included seven fours.
Firdosh Ansari remained unbeaten on 45 after hitting two sixes and as many fours in his 37-ball knock.
Sunny Pun (34), skipper Puspa Thapa (29), Rajan Magar (16) and Manish Thapa were also among the runs. Prakash Jaishi, Lalit Pyakurel and Diwan Pun bagged two wickets each for Karnali. Rabindra Shahi was the only Karnali batsman to score runs in double figures as man-of-the-match Puspa Thapa ran through their innings. Thapa returned with figures of 6-19 from 9.1 overs. Mukunda Yadav also took three and Kamal Khatri one wicket for Province 1.
Summary
APF 127-4 in 23 overs (S Vesawkar 35*, P Airee 33; D Shrestha 3-25, K Mahato 1-16) beat Gandaki Province 125 in 41.2 overs (D Shrestha 27; B Karki 3-22, S Vesawkar 2-41, Y Kumal 2-16, A Routela 2-8) by six wickets Man-of-the-match: S Vesawkar
Province One 228-8 in 50 overs (S Lohani 63, F Ansari 45; D Pun 2-30, L Pyakurel 2-34, P Jaishi 2-67) beat Karnali Province 47 in 20.1 overs (N Rawal 17; P Thapa 6-19, M Yadav 3-22) by 181 runs
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