Nepalgunj's hope hangs in the balance

KATHMANDU, March 16: Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) on Sunday defeated Region No 1 (Biratnagar) by three wickets to keep alive its chances of sailing into the semifinals of the Men's Senior One-day National Cricket Tournament, while Region No 3 (Kathmandu) recorded its first win.

Nepalgunj, which won three matches out of five in Group A, is in the the third position despite having equal six points to Region No 2 (Birgunj) due to inferior net run rate. So, Nepalgunj's fate will depend on the result of the match between Tribhuvan Army Club and Birgunj, the last match for both sides, scheduled for Monday.


However, Nepalgunj will advance into the last four only if Birgunj faces big margin defeat against Army Club. Army Club has already advanced into the knock-out stage winning four matches.

To keep its hope alive, Nepagunj chased 225 runs target with seven balls to spare losing seven wickets as Rajbir Singh (75) and skipper Shubendu Pandey (59) shared a 84-run partnership for the fourth wickets at the Pulchowk Engineering Ground.

Lalit Rajbanshi claimed four wickets, while Puspa Thapa took two wickets for Biratnagar.

Earlier, Prajwal Shahi's five-wicket haul helped Nepalgunj restrict Biratnagar on 224/10 in 43.4 overs. However, Ravi Roy scored 56 runs and Siddhant Lohani added 46 runs. Lakpa Lama remained not out on 27 runs.

Prajwal claimed five wickets giving away 46 runs in 10 overs that included one maiden over as well. Avinash Bohara picked up two wickets for Nepalgunj.

In Group B match at the Tribhuvan University Ground, Kathmandu chased 181 runs target in 30.3 overs losing six wickets to defeat Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) by four wickets.

This is the first win for Kathmandu in two matches as it had lost its opener against APF Club.

Prakash Bista contributed 65 runs, while Aadil Khan remained not out on 60 runs.

Dipendra Yadav and Susan Bhari took two wickets each for Bhairahawa.

Earlier, being asked to bat first, Bhairahawa was bundled out for 180 runs in 44.1 overs. Saurav Khanal (50), Nirmal Thapa (37) and Nischal Chaudhary (33) were the major run scorers for Bhairahawa.

Rupesh Shrivastav and Sudeep Sharma bagged three wickets each for Kathmandu. Ujjwal Thapa pocketed two wickets.

Today's Fixtures

Region No 6 (Baitadi) Vs Region No 9 (Dhangadhi) @ TU Ground

Army Club Vs Region No 2 (Birgunj) @ Engineering Ground

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