Cricket

Sudurpaschim Province defeated Madhesh by seven wickets on Wednesday to secure their place in the final of the U-19 National Cricket Tournament. 

Sudurpaschim have 10 points with a perfect record from five games.

In the match played at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Madhesh set a 123-run target which Sudurpaschim chased down in 18.5 overs for the loss of three wickets.  

Deepak Bohora top scored for Sudurpaschim with 53 runs. His namesake Deepak Bohora made 24 runs, while Gajendra Bohora added 23 runs. 

Madhesh bowlers Avishek Tiwari took two wickets and Simon Roy took one.

Earlier put in to bat, Madhesh struggled against Sudurpaschim bowler Naren Saud and were cleaned up for 122 runs in 38.1 overs. Ali Ansari scored 32 runs, while Imran Sheikh (28), Mayan Yadav (23) and W Mallik (11) were other contributors.

Saud was the peak of the Sudurpaschim bolwers, snaring five wickets. Hemant Dhami and Yuvraj Khatri also bowled with tight line and length to take three and two wickets, respectively. 

Lumbini keep alive hopes for final

Meanwhile, Durgesh Gupta's brilliant all-around performance kept Lumbini Province hopes alive for a place in the final as they beat Bagmati by 85 runs.

After winning the toss and opting to bat at Mulpani Cricket Ground, Lumbini put up 234 runs in 49 overs. They bowled out Bagmati for 149 runs in 35.3 overs. 

Bagmati captain Ashok Paudel scored 31 runs off 54 balls and Prateek Shrestha made 27. The two batters tried to repair damage from 62-4 in 15.1 overs, adding 39 runs for the fifth wicket. 

Lumbini’ Gupta took four wickets for 15 runs in 5.3 overs, while Tul Bahadur Thapa and Abhishek Gautam took two wickets each.

In the first innings, openers Dev Khanal and Akash Tripathi gave a good start to Lumbini, sharing 72 runs in 16.2 over. Khanal made 46 runs and Tripathi scored 40.

Although Bagmati removed the opposition middle order quite cheaply, Durgesh (38) and Tul Bahadur Thapa (28) put on 51 runs for the ninth wicket to post a decent total.

Prateek Shrestha of Bagmati took three wickets, while Abhishek Koirala and Omkar Yadav took two wickets each. 

Bagmati Province are currently second on eight points from five games. Lumbini Province hold third place with six point and Province 1 fourth with four. Karnali Province remain in fifth place with two points. Gandaki and Madhaesh have no points.

The top two teams from the seven-team round-robin league qualify for the final.