KATHMANDU, March 25: Naresh Budhayer shared two vital partnerships in the middle order as Tribhuvan Army Club won its maiden Senior One Day National Tournament beating Armed Police Force (APF) by five wickets at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Tuesday.
Naresh, who had failed to impress with the bat so far, scored an unbeaten half century from 97 balls and shared 54-run partnership with Binod Bhandari for the third wicket, before sharing an unbeaten 62-run partnership with Rajesh Pulami.
Hard-hitting Binod fell two run shy from scoring half century from 52 balls while Rajesh, coming in at seventh, scored an unbeaten 35 runs off 49 balls.
Playing a patient inning, Naresh reached his 50-run in 97 balls to help Army achieved its mediocre target of 164-run in the 40.5 overs for the loss of five wickets.
Arif Seikh took two wickets for APF while Yagyaman Kumal and Shakti Gauchan took one each.
The triumph bagged Army a cash award of Rs 200,000. APF had to be content with Rs 125,000.
"I am profoundly happy with my responsible knock in the final as I had been unable to score runs in earlier matches. It feels great performing when your team requires the most," said Naresh after receiving his man-of-the-match award.
"Initially I was focused on assisting Binod to make runs. This helped me playing patiently and gaining confidence."
Army skipper Binod said that winning the toss and opting to field first was the right decision.
"Our team mainly consists of medium-pacers. And TU's pitch favors medium-pacers in the morning. It was an evenly contested match and we emerged winners," he said.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, APF made a disastrous start, losing both its openers Paresh Lohani and Subash Khakurel with no runs on board.
Pradeep Airee somehow steadied APF's drowning voyage by hard-hitting 33 runs off 38 balls, before Basant Regmi had contributed an unbeaten 37 runs off 63 balls to help APF made 164 runs for the loss of nine wickets in its allotted 45 overs. Jitendra Mukhiya picked up highest three wickets for Army as Avinash Karn and Sagar Pun bagged two wickets apiece.
APF skipper Paras Khadka attributed his team's failure to put up a challenging total for losing the final.
"Things could have been different had we given a target of at least 220-230 runs. We did not have the momentum. They displayed disciplined bowling and we failed to make runs," he said.
Paras further added that the tournament will be important in selecting emerging players, adding, "This has given a solid base for analysis.
Army's Mahesh Chhetri was adjudged player-of-the-tournament for his outstanding 384 runs from 495 balls in total. His total runs included one century and three half centuries with highest run of 134 runs against Baitadi in the semifinal.
Mahesh bagged Rs 30,000 for his feat.
His partner Anil Mandal, who became the only player to score three centuries in a tournament and fourth century in overall in a national tournament, won best batsman award. He scored 286 runs from 359 balls with an average of 57.20. His highest was 114 runs against Baitadi in the semifinal.
Bagging 16 wickets from five matches with an economy of 2.58, Kamal Airee of Baitadi took best bowler award. His best figure was 6 wickets for the loss of 10 runs.
Baitadi's Yogendra Karki deservedly took emerging player of the tournament award. From five matches, he scored 132 runs and took 14 wickets.
Best batsman and bowler award winners won Rs 20,000 each while Yogendra bagged Rs 10,000 for emerging player award.
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