Nischal Pandey emerged hero with an all-round performance, while in the other dead-match, Region No 5 Nepalgunj defeated Region No 1 Biratnagar by three wickets. With the results, Bhairahawa qualified for the final against Region No 2 Birgunj while once heavy-weights of Nepali cricket, Biratnagar, lost all five matches. [break]
At the BSAM ground, Kathmandu´s decision to bat first hit back dearly as Navin Shrestha and Nischal bowled their hearts out to end the innings at 66 in 27 overs. Nischal took five wickets allowing 11 runs in 8 overs while Navin grabbed three for 28 runs in 7 overs.
For Kathmandu, only three batsmen reached double-digit scores -- Dilman Rokka (19), Nupur Pandey (10) and Roshan Khatri (15) -- while six batsmen did not score. Bijaya Rokaya trapped Swichan Shah in the first ball when Bhairahawa began the chase but a 42-run partnership between Satish Bhagat (9) and Nischal laid the foundation to complete the victory in 13.3 overs.
Kiran Pandey (16 not out) and Nischal won the match for Bhairahawa. Nischal remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 37 with five fours.
At the IOE ground, Biratnagar did better than Kathmandu after choosing to bat first. With captain Hari Chaulagain topscoring along with Lilan Kharel (18), Rimesh Regmi (14) took them to 109 in 22.3 overs. Hari scored 32 off 29 balls with five fours.
Opening seamer Saud Ahmad Ansari took six wickets for 14 runs while Karamat Khan took three wickets.
Nepalgunj faced hard times chasing the score but they managed to register victory in 29 overs with three wickets remaining. Opener Prajjwal Shahi got 31 off 79 balls while Rupal Nepali scored 13 and Greethi Rokka 12.
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