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Kathmandu Friday April 27, 2001 Baishakh 14, 2058.
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Parsa
to face Kapilbastu in final
Post Report
KATHMANDU, April 26 - Parsa entered the final of
17th Jay Trophy national cricket tournament defeating Morang in a breathtaking semi-final
match by 16 runs played at the Tribhuvan University ground today.
Parsa is scheduled to play Kapilbastu in the
final match to be played tomorrow. Kapilbastu have already booked their place in final by
defeating Bara in the first semi-final match played on Wednesday.
Fighting for the final, both the semi-finalists
in today’s match showed dedication and winning instinct which resulted in
tournament’s most sensational battle.
Winning an essential toss, Parsa’s captain
Musarraf Izhar elected to bat first only to lose their four top order batsmen in quick
succession. The middle order did absolutely well ater the collapse of the frontline
batsmen.
The 5th wicket partnership between skipper
Musarraf Izhar and Jaya Prakash Saraaf proved to be the most rewarding for Parsa, which
gathered 89 runs. Izhar made a brilliant and quick 50 runs off just 45 balls with 7
beautifully driven boundaries as Saraaf consolidated the partnership with a patient 32
runs off 71 deliveries. No.4 batsman Kalamuddin Ansaari also contributed 33 off 52 balls.
Naasir Khan remained not out, chipping in 21 from 34 while Prakash Sharma made 23 off 55
balls. With Pratap Maharjan’s 13 unbeaten runs during the slogs, Parsa managed decent
looking 216 for 7 playing full quota of 50 overs.
Morang’s bowling attack looked sluggish
because of the absence of all-rounder Paras Lunia. Santosh Rathi took two wickets giving
away 35 runs in his 9 overs while Rajkumar Pradhan also scalped two at the expense of just
28 runs from a total of ten overs. Howver, rest of the bowlers failed to impress and
conceded a lot of runs giving away a total of 33 runs extra, which proved to be the
difference at the end of the match.
Chasing a victory target of 217 to win, the
initial phase of Morang’s innings was disastrous. They lost 6 of their top order
batsmen with only 59 runs on the scoreboard. The brilliant partnership of Sarvajit Raj
Pandey and Anish Aryal, who put 83 runs for the sixth wicket went in vain as Parsa’s
bowlers removed them in quick succession. Anish Aryal knocked a superb 55 off just 58
balls that included a maiden sixer and seven boundaries. Sarbajit Pandey also chipped in
with 20 runs off 48 balls. Morang’s tailenders put everything on the ground to drive
their team for the final that brought the game alive. Rajkumar Pradhan tried his best
hitting 37 off mere 35 balls including six 4s and huge sixer on long-on area. Amardeep,
who supported Rajkumar ended up with 14 runs, before being run out.
Chasing run-a-ball in the slog overs with two
wickets in hand, Morang managed only 200 runs in 45.5 overs losing all the wickets
allowing Parsa to win by 16 runs. Bishal Gupta was the pick of the bowlers claiming 4
wickets in his continuous ten over spell that cost him only 25 runs with two maiden overs.
Rajiv Shrestha also sent two batsmen towards pavilion.
Parsa’s captain Musarraf Izhar was decided
Man of the Match by match referee who made stunning half century and claimed one wicket.
The final will be played tomorrow between
Kapilbastu and Parsa at University Ground, Kirtipur while the match to decide the third
place winners will be played at the Engineering College ground.
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