Province 2, Province 5 register convincing victories

Ramesh Kurmi of Province 5 receives the man-of-the-match trophy after U-16 National Cricket Tournament in Kathmandu on Thursday. Photo: THT

Kathmandu, April 4

Province 2 and Province 5 registered victories in the U-16 National Cricket Tournament here at the TU Stadium today.

Province 2 defeated Province 1, while Province 5 beat Karnali Province by identical margins of six wickets in the 30-over-a-side event organised by Ministry of Youth and Sports to select the U-16 team for the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament.

In the first match, Province 1 were bowled out for a paltry 78 runs in 15.5 overs before Province 2 reached the target losing four wickets with more than four wickets to spare. Bishal Patel wrecked the Province 1 top order claiming three wickets in the first over. Patel trapped Shakib Ansari and Abhishek Baral leg before the wicket and bowled Ankit Shrestha in the second, third and fifth balls of innings. He then ran Samir Karki (10) out in the third over to reduce Province 1 to 21-4. Skipper Dipesh Kandel top scored for Province 1 with 33 off 36 balls.

Man-of-the-match Patel was the pick of the Province 2 bowlers taking four wickets, while Arbaz Ansari claimed three and Nikhil Singh bagged two wickets. Satish Yadav also pocketed one.

In reply, Sahil Mumar Patel and Parsuran Yadav guided Province 2 to victory with a 58-run partnership for the fourth wicket after Province 1 skipper Kandel took three quick wickets. Patel scored 35 off 38 balls, while Yadav struck three fours in his unbeaten 26 off 33 balls.

In another match, Karnali Province were all out for 71 runs in 24.2 overs before Province 5 overcame the total losing four wickets in the 13th over. Province 5 bounced back to record their first win after losing to Province 3 in the previous match.

Karnali kept losing wickets at regular interval and the batsmen failed to build partnerships.

The 30-run stand for the 10th wicket between Yuvaraj Khatri (17 off 33) and Benit Khatri (unbeaten 10) was the highest partnership of the innings.

Man-of-the-match Ramesh Kurmi was the chief destroyer for Province 5 as he returned with the figures of 4-7 in six overs, while Suraj Khadka and Prakash Giri claimed two wickets each.

In reply, Sushant Thapa scored an unbeaten 31 off 29 balls to guide Province 5 to easy victory. Skipper Bishal Bikram KC scored a quick fire 18 off eight balls. Raj Kumar Shahi, Yuvaraj Khatri and Yunish Singh took one wicket each for Karnali.