SPORTS

Kathmandu Thursday March 29, 2001 Chaitra 16,  2057.

Biratnagar humbles Nepalgunj

Post Report

KATHMANDU, March 28 - Biratnagar team, coming back from the humiliation it faced at the hands of Bhairahawa yesterday, defeated Nepalgunj today by 5 wickets in the ongoing Under - 19 Regional selection cricket tournament played at the Tribhuvan University ground, Kirtipur.

Nepalgunj posted a modest score of 151 runs at the end of allotted 50 overs losing 9 of their wickets, after winning the toss and electing to bat. Nepalgunj boys missed the opportunity to post a huge score after what could have proved to be a crucial toss to win. That did not seem to be the case as the Nepalgunj batsmen did not show enough application to stay on the crease and kept losing their wickets at regular intervals.

Narendra Bohra was one of the few Nepalgunj boys who stuck to his task of staying at the wicket. The opener scored 27, which can not be called a huge score but he stayed at the pitch for most of the part of Nepalgunj innings, something which most of the batsmen failed in doing.

The hero of the innings, however, was Meraj Ansari, who played a wonderful knock of 53 runs. He played superbly for his half century, hitting 7 fours and a six. He stayed on the wicket for a total of 57 balls. Only three batsmen from Nepalgunj team were able to reach double digits, which highlights the efforts of Ansari and Bohra even more.

On the bowling front, the Biratnagar boys seemed more focused than yesterday. Manjeet Shrestha was pick of Biratnagar bowlers taking two wickets in his mean 10 over spell giving away paltry 16 runs. Md Raja Ansari was another bowler who got rid of two batsmen in his 10 overs for 30 runs.

Biratnagar, not chasing a huge target, seemed to be quite relaxed in its batting as they won the match with 11.4 overs to spare and losing just 5 of their wickets. For Nepalgunj bowlers, it was always going to be a tough task containing the batsmen under three runs an over. Biratnagar, with a fairly good opening partnership, seemed to be on course for the victory.

Yaswant Subedi, the Biratnagar opener, seemed to start right from where he left yesterday. He batted with ease belting 7 balls to the boundary in his knock of 45 runs, which came in just 55 balls. He must, however, be disappointed that he has not been able to convert his two consecutive scores of 40s into half centuries.

Subedi received good support from other batsmen like Manoj Katuwal and Manjeet Shrestha, who chipped in with 31 and 32 respectively. Puspa Thapa also got into the act with 20 off 24 balls to contribute in his team’s victory.

For the Nepalgunj team, Meraj Ansari was the only bowler who got some respect from the batsmen. He scalped two Biratnagar wickets at the cost of 37 runs in his 9 overs. He was adjudged man of the match for his all round effort which included a half century and two wickets.