Pokhara XI stun MPC 4-2 on penalties

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BUTWAL, March 6 : Pokhara XI brought Mahendra Police Club’s winning run to the close Wednesday with a stunning 4-2 win on penalties to move into the semifinals of the Tilottama Gold Cup Football tournament.

The referee had to introduce the tiebreaker as the teams failed to make any headway throughout the regulation time.

Laxman Lama, Hem Gurung, Tilak Gurung and Prem Pun were all on target for Pokhara. On the other hand, only Dev Narayan Chaudhary and Raju Katuwal were successful to translate their shots into goal while Kishore Subba and Ananta Thapa failed in their attempts.

The win, in a sense, restored the lost pride of most of the Pokhara XI players, who had started in the Sahara Blue that lost on toss of a coin to the police team in the recently concluded Caravan Gold Cup in Pokhara.

MPC taking charge of the match, held much of the ball possession launching repeated raids. But Pokhara XI stood firm at the back to keep them away from scoring and at the same time came up with occasional counterattacks.

Pokhara XI had a close shave in the 15th minute when Ananta Thapa’s powerful shot, taken from the penalty area, missed the target by a whisker. And police team’s striker Hari Khadka saw his close shot blocked away by Pokhara keeper in the 24th minute.

MPC continued to maintain pressure on the opposition frequently creating goalscoring chances only to spurn them away. In the 27th minute, Raju Pulami’s fine header on a Hari Khadka cross too failed to find the net.

Before that, Pokhara coming out of MPC shackles, had their first close look at the goal off a rare counterattack but skipper Rajkumar Shrestha’s shot was saved by keeper Sanjeev Joshi.

The second half went along much the same way as the first with MPC launching attack in waves. But for all their tireless effort they continually met with frustration despite earning numerous freekicks and corner in the session.

Hari Khadka and Ananta Thapa were disappointing, missing on several occasions. Especially, Khadka had a poor afternoon that he would surely like to forget, spurning a string of glorious chances. It was also because of Pokhara team defender Rajesh Thapa, who roped in Khadka with his close marking.

Pokhara did manage to come up with a few occasional moves in the second half but without any success. Pokhara XI face off NRT in the tournament’s second semifinal on Friday.

Everest enter quarters

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KATHMANDU, March 6 : Everest College Cricket Academy made it through to the quarterfinals of the Ganesh Man Memorial Cricket tournament with a three-wicket win over Jorpati Cricket Club on Wednesday.

Jorpati, who won the toss and decided to bat first, were off to a poor start losing Sandeep Subedi for one to the first ball of the third over with only 7 runs on board. They lost two quick wickets and were reduced to 12-3.

Samson Jung Thapa, the assistant coach for Nepali U-19 team, topscored with 38
runs to apply breaks on
fall of wickets for while. But once he was bowled by Bipin Sharma, the rest of the Jorpati batsmen failed to take on tight Everest College bowling to be bundled out for 108 in 34 overs.

Radheshyam Mishra was the most successful among Everest College bowlers picking up three wickets while Avishek Agrawal and Sharma each returned with two wickets.

The run chase for Everest College was not without a hiccup, though. Jorpati opening bowler Rajan Lama revived the team’s hopes removing both the openers in quick succession to leave Everest College 8-2. But a timely knock of 34 runs from Kripesh Shrestha and Gyanendra Malla (22) restored their tempo.

Thupten Lama hit back midway through the Everest College, trapping Gyanendra and Raunak Malla (16) leg before. But Everest College tailenders Radheshyam Mishra and Bipin Sharma sailed them to the safety in 30.2 over with three wicket to spare. Mishra was declared man of the match for his outstanding bowling.

Kathmandu Khel Mandal will play with East West Cricket Team in a quarterfinal match on Thursday.