KATHMANDU, Dec 27: Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) qualified for the semifinals of Pepsi Standard Chartered T20 National Cricket Tournament from Pool A along with group leader Armed Police Force (APF) Club on Thursday.
Bhairahawa thrashed Region No 1 (Biratnagar) by 82 runs at the Pulchowk Engineering Ground, Lalitpur to finish runner-up in Pool A while APF defeated Region No 3 (Kathmandu) by 61 runs to top the group.
APF will lock horns with Pool B runner-up Region No 8 (Pokhara) while Bhairahawa will take on Region No 6 (Baitadi) in the semifinals on Friday at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.
Sanjam Regmi of AFP . (Photo: Bikash Karki)
In a virtual quarterfinal, Subash Pradhan scored a half-century against Biratnagar to guide Bhairahawa to the semifinals. Bhairahawa elected to bat and was all out for 122 runs in 19.2 overs. Veteran spinner Raj Kumar Pradhan dismissed five Bhairahawa batsmen but man-of-the-match Pradhan scored 54 runs off 46 balls to guide his team to a competitive total. Opener Sagar Pun contributed 27 runs off 26 balls and Nischal Chaudhary chipped in with 15 runs off 10 balls.
In reply, Biratnagar batsmen failed to deliver as the team was able to score only 40 runs. Kalicharan Yadav didn´t come to the crease as he was retired hurt and Biratnagar lost all nine wickets in 14.1 overs. Krishna Karki took three wickets and Lal Bahadur Adhikari claimed two wickets to restrict Biratngar to the low total. Manoj Mandal (12 runs) and Sunny Pun (10 runs) were the highest contributors for Biratnagar.
Bhairahawa has six points from four matches while Biratnagar has four points. Group leader APF, which won all the four matches in the group, has eight points.
In another match, APF elected to bat and put up 176/2 in 20 overs as Subash Khakurel scored an unbeaten 93 runs off 64 balls. Khakurel struck nine fours and two sixes. Gyanendra Malla also remained unbeaten on 69 runs off 42 balls with six fours and a six.
APF was at 25/2 in 3.6 overs as Keshav Raj Pant dismissed Paresh Lohani (9) and Sanjay Shrestha (1) but Khakurel and Malla shared a 151-run partnership for the third wicket.
In reply, Kathmandu could reach only 115/9 in 20 overs. Rajesh Pulami tried to anchor the Kathmandu innings with 53 runs off 43 balls that included five fours and two sixes, while Rabin Joshi added 22 runs off 35 balls for Kathmandu. Shakti Gauchan, Sanjam Regmi and Sharad Vesawkar claimed two wickets each for APF.
APF´s wicketkeeper-batsman Khakurel, who also stumped three batsmen and took a catch, was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
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