Astounding Pradeep Airee and inscrutable Lal Adhikari steered Armed police Force and province No.5 to wins in the 9th day of Primeminister cup at Kathmandu.
Armed Police Force Vs Province No. 2
Utterly dominant APFC destructed Province 2 by a mammoth 96 runs in the group A match held at Tribhuvan University ground, courtesy of centuries from Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Airee. The first inning was all about the pair, who added 231 runs for the second wicket. APF lost opener Anil Sah early on for 3 who was caught behind in the ball of Divyanshu Mallick.
Province 2 bowler’s had no answer to Airee and Khakurel’s partnership that put on 231 in 238 balls. Airee’s knock showed glimpse of his old self, firing boundaries all over the park. With 13 glorious boundaries and 6 powerful sixes he managed 158 runs in only 135 balls. Khakurel’s innings was offensive too, with 7 fours and 2 huge sixes coming from his bat. He made 103 from 130 balls. Prithu Banskota (29) and Bhuwan Karki (16) quick fired towards the end to post a score of 339/6 in 50 overs.
Divyanshu Mallick got 5 wickets, but was expensive in the offing giving away 84 runs in his 9 overs. The only other wicket was picked by Rahul Pratap Singh.
With heavy rainfall, Province 2 had to chase 202 as revised target in 28 overs which they fell short by 96 runs. Medium pacer, Karan Kc and Spin wizard, Basant Regmi took 3 wickets each to defend the target. Openers Hari Shankhar Shah and Suraj Patel showed promise by putting on 73 for the first wicket but none other batsman managed to contribute significantly with the bat as they were limited to 105/9 in their allotted overs, handing the match by 96 runs. Pradeep Airee was undoubtedly declared the player of the match.
Province no. 3 Vs Province no. 5
In the group B encounter of the day, Province 5 edged Province 3 by 30 runs (D/L) as the match was affected by rain too.
Lal Adhikari’s 4 wickets for 33 runs was the highlight of the match, which played vital role in dismissing Province 3 for a mere 152 in 44.5 overs. Opener Bhupendra Thapa made 46 before getting out to Adhikari. The slow left arm orthodox bowler dismissed crucial batsman including Thapa (46), Sanjay Basnet (15), Ashutosh Ghiraiya (1) and Sonu Tamang(3).
Province 5 was 89/3 in 20.5 overs, when rain kicked in. The D/L par score was 60 runs, which Province 5 was ahead by 30 runs. No further play was possible due to rain, ultimately Province 5 bagging their second win of the tournament. Sandep Sunar before getting retired hurt smacked 38 from 35 balls to keep the team ahead of D/L par score.
Lal Adhikari was adjudged the player of the match for his 4 wicket haul.
With the wins, APFC and Province 5 remain at the apex of their respective groups. APFC with 3 wins out of 3 has 6 points and are through to the semis while Province 5 has 5 points with two wins and a match washed out.
