Sports
Kami half century gives first win to Army
The departmental side bounce back from their opening loss to edge Kathmandu Mayor’s XI by five wickets.Sports Bureau
A half-century from Sompal Kami gave Tribhuvan Army Club a five-wicket victory over Mayor's XI as they registered their first win in the Kathmandu Mayor's Cup one-day cricket tournament at the TU grounds, Kirtipur.
Inviting Mayor's XI to bat first, Army bowled them out for 155 runs in 42.1 overs as Shahab Alam grabbed four wickets. In the run chase, the departmental team surpassed the meagre target in 23.5 overs at a loss of five wickets.
While Army pulled their first win from the second match, the situation reversed for Mayor's XI who faced first defeat from two matches played. The tournament featuring five teams is played in the round robin format and the top two finishers of the group round will vie for the title.
Nepal Armed Police Force Club are on top of the standings winning both of their matches while Bagmati are at the bottom of losing both fixtures. Police have won one out of two matches played.
Mayor's XI dramatic collapse started after the highest scorer Saurav Khanal was sent to pavilion with 42 runs under his belt with 131-5 on board. He hit two fences and sixes each before being caught by Bhim Sharki off Kushal Malla. But they lost the remaining batsmen cheaply for 24 runs.
Mayor's XI Openers Khadak Bohora and Harishankar Shah scored 19 and 18 runs respectively playing a 48-run partnership for the first wicket before the latter was caught behind by skipper Binod Bhandari off Alam. Sandeep Rajali contributed 37 off 63. Mayor XI captain Sandeep Lamichhane, who hit 13 runs, was the only other player to contribute in double figures.
Army's highest wicket taker Alam conceded 39 runs in his 10 overs of bowling with a maiden over. Jitendra Mukhiya grabbed three wickets in his 10 over spell with three maiden overs. He gave away 38 runs.
In the run chase, opener Sompal Kami made the work easy for Army scoring 80 runs from 51 deliveries. The player-of-the-match hit nine fences and six sixes before being caught by Narayan Joshi off Lamichhane.
Bhim Sharki contributed 16 runs while Kushal Malla scored run-a-ball 23. Skipper Bhandari remained unbeaten at 20 runs off 27 deliveries. Rajesh Pulami remained not out for eight runs.
Mayor XI's Lamichhane and Bipin Khatri grabbed two wickets apiece. Lamichhane, however, was too expensive, conceding 74 runs in his nine over spell. Khatri gave away 34 runs in his 4.5 over bowling.
There will be two matches on Tuesday with Bagmati taking on APF Club at the TU grounds and Police vying with Army at the Mulpani grounds.




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