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| Kathmandu Tuesday April 02, 2002 Chaitra 20, 2058. |
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Morang beat Sunsari to take
pole position
Post Report
BIRATNAGAR, April 1:In-form allrounder Mahesh
Sen scored swashbuckling 93 runs off just 71 balls to record a 7-wicket win against
Sunsari in the ongoing Regional Cricket Selection tournament at local Jute Mill’s
ground on Monday.
With the win, Morang took the pole position of
area number one with 12 points with two more matches in hand.
Sunsari won the toss and made 169 batting first.
Youngster Manjeet Shrestha topscored with 33 runs while Raju KC contributed 31 and Mahesh
Rijal chipped in useful 27 runs. Morang bowlers were right on spot as pacer Santosh Rathi
picked up three wickets while Rajkumar Pradhan struck twice. Sen, Paras Luniya and Roshan
Budathoki bagged a wicket apiece.
Sen’s brilliant batting saw the local
cricketers reaching the target in just 33 overs for the loss of three wickets. Apart from
Sen, Yunil Shrestha made 37 while Manohar Raj Pandey scored unbeaten 27 runs.
In the other match played at Saheed Stadium,
Saptari outwitted Jhapa by mammoth 147 runs, thanks to man of the match Ayush Shrestha’s
five-wicket haul.
Aided by big hitting veteran Dipendra Chaudhary’s
81 runs Saptari piled up huge 267-5 in their allotted 45 overs. Chaudhary faced just 61
balls to make his runs. Besides Chaudhary, Niroj Bhattarai scored a half-century and
Sailendra Khadka contributed 45.
Jhapa’s bowlers failed to pose any trouble
to opposition batsmen as well as check the runs. Santosh Baral, Kishore Lama, Subin Khadka
and skipper Rajan Bhattarai claimed a wicket apiece.
In reply, Jhapa could only manage 120 in 27
overs. Nirin Baral was the lone fighter making 35 runs as rest of the batsmen surrendered
in front of precise Saptari bowling attack. Dates for the remaining three matches of the
tournament are yet to be decided due to unavailability of the ground. |
