Bhairahawa thrashed Region No 7 Janakpur by 112 runs while Baitadi beat Region No 5 Nepalgunj by four wickets.[break]
In the match played at the TU Ground, Kirtipur, Bhairahawa won the toss and scored 198 runs losing all its wickets in 45.4 overs. Rabindra Thapa, who scored 45 runs off 80 balls with six boundaries, shared a 55-run partnership with Kiran Pandey for the fourth wicket. Pandey scored 27 runs off 56 balls.
Thapa and Saurav Khanal shared a 43-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Khanal then shared a 49-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Man Bahadur Thapa to guide the team to a big total. Khanal scored 43 runs off 51 balls with six boundaries.
Abhishek Jha was the highest wicket-taker for Janakpur with four wickets. Gopal Singh grabbed three wickets while Mukesh Jha claimed two wickets. Janakpur conceded 32 runs as extras.
Chasing the target of 199, Janakpur was bowled out for 86 runs in 36 overs. Ikhlaq Ahmed Warsi and Bivek Chaudhary grabbed three wickets each while Devendra Somare and Saurav Khanal took two wickets each to restrict Jankpur to the low score.
Sameer Nepal was the highest scorer for Janakpur with 16 runs, while Rahul Pratap Singh scored 14 runs.
In another match played at the Institute of Engineering Ground, Pulchowk, Nepalgunj opted to bat first and was all out for 147 runs in 39 overs. Binod Lama took a five-wicket haul to restrict Nepalgunj to the low total.
Nepalgunj had made a promising start with a 42-run partnership for the first wicket. However, after the dismissal of openers Wasim Halwai (15) and Rupesh Sharma (18), Nepalgunj continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Pratik Hamal was the highest scorer with 27 runs off 57 balls. Nepalgunj received 21 runs as extras.
Saurav Chand grabbed three wickets while Santosh Bhatta and Mahesh Shah shared a wicket each.
Baitadi successfully chased the target of 148 runs in 27.3 overs losing six wickets. Baitadi lost its first wicket with 11 runs on the board. However, Surendra Chand and Chandan Rawal held the innings together with a 75-run partnership for the second wicket and guided the team to victory.
Chand scored 47 runs off 45 balls with six fours and a huge six, while Rawal scored 24 runs off 39 balls with three boundaries. Santosh Bhatta remained unbeaten on 20 runs.
Inamuddin Halwai grabbed four wickets while Amar Singh and Siddhant Raj Shahi shared a wicket each for Nepalgunj. Nepalgunj bowlers conceded 26 runs as extras.
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