Subash Khakurel scored 140 as Kathmandu amassed 322/9 in 50 overs to beat Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) by 144 runs at the IOE Ground, Pulchowk. [break]
At TU Ground, Bibek Chaudhary took seven wickets to bowl out Region No 2 (Birgunj) for 61 in 19.1 overs as Bhairahawa won by 60 runs.
Khakurel, coming as an opener, scored 140 in 109 balls with 15 fours and four sixes as the Kathmandu top order reaped runs at ease. Rajesh Pulami scored 54 off 58 balls with two fours and two sixes, Prithu Baskota got 30 off 17, Ujjwal Thapa 29 off 39 and Sharad Khadka 26 off 56.
Inamuddin Halwai was the most successful bowler with 4/72. Sunil Sunar took 2/33 in his 10 overs. Subendu Pandey and Siddhant Shahi also claimed a wicket each.
Rupesh Sharma tried to tie the Nepalgunj innings fighting 99 off 101 balls with nine fours and four sixes but he did not have a solid support from his teammates and ran out of partners in 39 overs with team on 178. He remained unbeaten a run short of century. The next highest score for Nepalgunj was Navaraj Shahi´s 12.
Sabin Shrestha was the chief destroyer with 5/36. Prithu and Rochak Bhatta each grabbed two wickets and Bijay Gautam took the remaining one.
At TU, Chaudhary bowled an unforgettable spell. Introduced in eighth over with Birgunj 35/1, Chaudhary began by removing Amit Shrestha (21) lbw and did not stop. He bowled 6.1 overs giving away seven runs and taking seven wickets. Krishna Karki and Krishna Sen grabbed a wicket each to end Birgunj´s innings early.
Earlier, Bhairahawa won the toss and scored 121 in 44.4 overs. Faizrul Rahman Khan topscored with 30 off 36 balls, Sagar Pun and Krishna Sen got 16 each.
Bibek Dali was the most successful bowler with 4/11 in 10 overs. Avinash Karn grabbed 3/30 and Mohd Hasim 2/12.
On Friday, Kathmandu plays Region No 1 (Biratnagar) at TU and Bhairahawa plays Region No 6 (Baitadi) at IOE Ground.
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