East West enter final

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 1 :Host East West Overseas Couriers, spurred on by their Indian imports stormed into the final of the East West BDM Open cricket tournament following a 196-run win over the Dharan Cricket Club (DCC) on Tuesday.

Batting first after the toss, the hosts put up a mammoth score of 339 runs for six wickets in the allotted 35 overs.

Rupesh Alwaniya was the chief scorer of the innings with an explosive century to his name. He remained unbeaten on 100 runs, managing 10 runs in the last two balls of the innings. He belted the Dharan bowlers all round the Tundikhel as he finished the match with five sixes and six fours in his 58-ball stay at the wicket. His last six coming off the last ball of the innings as he completed his century.

Vishal Rajdan (57), Sonu Vaidya (50) and Birendra Shah (67) scored quick runs to help their team post a 300-plus total. Shah, in particular, dominated the bowlers scoring five sixes and three fours as he lasted for 37 balls.

Dharan bowlers were at the receiving end throughout the match as the fielders hardly helped their cause dropping as many as a dozen catches. Two catches were dropped in the first over of the match itself.

DCC, requiring almost 10 runs an over, hardly were in contention once the East West innings was over. The whole team was bundled out in 28.2 overs for 143 runs.

Kiran Agrawal showed why he is regarded as one of the most consistent Nepali batsmen scoring 47 runs. His innings was the only saving grace in otherwise lacklustre Dharan innings.

For the hosts, Bikash Sharma took three wickets as Sumit Nagwar and Sonu Vaidya took two wickets each.

Alwaniya was chosen as man of the match for his batting on the day.

The fourth quarter-final match of the tournament between Mahavir Cricket club and Marylebone Cricket Club of Bhairahawa, which was called off due to pitch digging incident on Monday, will take place on Wednesday at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.

Footballers wake up in the east

By Purushottam Kattel

KATHMANDU, Jan 1:Mahendra Police Club (MPC), with the 4th Budha Subba Gold Cup under their belt on Saturday, have proved that they are the team to beat.

The tournament, however, contrary to the organisers’ initial claim – the tournament this year will be a South Asian Regional tournament –, was just about confined to the national affair apart from the lone invitee, United Kurseong Football Club (UKFC) from Darjeeling, India.

This dearth of foreign participants had adverse effect: the lowest spectators turn up since the tournament was first put on board in 1998.

Fact that the tournament organisers readily admit. "The tournament this year failed to match the gate collection that we had in preceding years," said Indu Rasaili, a member of the organising committee. "There were much more crowd presence during the semifinals and final yet it was less compared to previous tournaments."

At a time when the country’s sports has seen very few events owing to various reasons, the tournament served as a welcome relief to the clubs and to footballers to unlock their feet as much to game’s followers.

The locals could not have asked more from their teams – Dharan Red and Dharan Blue – both playing some entertaining football.

Dharan Red, playing as a fine unit, caught the imagination of the crowd with great teamwork as they travelled all the way to the tournament final. On the way, they overcame the stiff challenges of New Road Team (NRT) in the quarterfinal and UKFC in the semifinal.

In the final too, they stood brave against the formidable opposition, only to lose by a solitary goal. Ritesh Thapa justified his selection to the national side with gallant goalkeeping under the Dharan Red bar. Thapa conceded only three goals in four matches. He defied MPC frontrunners, preventing them from scoring freely in the final with a string of breathtaking saves.

Dharan Blue, too, fulfilled their promise to some extent as they made it to the last eight. They made Friends’ Club to work hard in the quarterfinals before going down on penalties.

Both New Road Team (NRT) and Friends’ Club failed to leave good impression on the crowd. NRT’s over reliance on Hari Thakuri’s individual talent led to their early exit. Friends’ Club, thanks to ‘keeper Upendra Man Singh’s brilliant anticipation, prevailed over Dharan Blue in the quarterfinals on tiebreaker.

On individual front, the performances of Nirajan Rayamajhi, Dilli Ram Shrestha and Suraj Khaling remained ordinary while Bal Gopal Maharjan, Rajan Rayamajhi and Raju Pulami looked mere shadow of their former self.

MPC, the title winner, were undoubtedly at the peak of the participating teams. None other team in the tournament could match their overall strength: up front, mid-field and at back.

Hari Khadka continued to showcase his sublime skills and netted four goals, the highest for the tournament while veteran Dev Narayan Chaudhary too looked brilliant in the middle. With well-struck two goals, Chaudhary not only entertained the crowd but also made a timely reminder that he still has plenty of football left in him.