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| Kathmandu, Sunday May 12, 2002 Baishakh 29, 2059. |
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Khatri ends Nepalgunj
‘s hope
Post Report
KATHMANDU, May 11:Dipesh Khatri bagged four
wickets to guide Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) to a comfortable 42-run victory over Region No 5
(Nepalgunj) in the Birendra Memorial National League Cricket Championship at the Tribhuvan
University cricket ground on Saturday.
With the Saturday’s loss, the
far-westerners are now eliminated from the championship as they failed to win three of
their matches while Friday’s rain earned them a point against Region No 1.
"This time it had been a tough tour for
us," said dejected Nepalgunj skipper Khagendra Kunwar. "We could not attend the
camp and the first game against Kathmandu demoralised our boys and unfortunately they
failed to recover throughout," he added.
The match was reduced to a 33-over affair
because of the wet outfield due to heavy overnight downpour and started three hours late.
Bhairahawa –their first match in the
championship –won the toss and elected to bat first and made a dream start in the
championship. Opening batsmen Shyam Chand and Basanta Regmi got of to a flyer to punish
Nepalgunj pace attacks to benefit from the field restriction.
Chand was unfortunate not to score
half-century when he was deceived by right-arm off-spinner Rafique Ansari and offered a
return catch on 49. In his 55-ball knock he smashed four perfectly timed boundaries.
Regmi, who was picked up as an all-rounder in the Nepali Under-19 World Cup squad last
February, proved his credentials providing a good support to Chand. He scored 24 runs in
41 balls. The pair added 89 run for the first wicket partnership.
After both the openers left the pitch putting
their team in a commanding position, Bhairahawa became a victim of middle-order collapse
when they lost their last seven wickets for mere 34 runs. Vinay Tripathi, who came in at
the fall of first wicket, dropped anchor to score patient 35.
At the later part of the innings Durga Sen
chipped in with unbeaten 17 off 13 deliveries to add unbroken 31 runs for the ninth wicket
setting the target of 155 in allotted 33 overs.
Only spinners tied Bairahawa batsmen as both
the genuine spinners Ansari and Mohammad Tajuddin clinched three wickets each. Tajuddin
was more effective than Ansari as he conceded just 12 runs in his seven-over spell. Two
Bhairahawa batsmen were sent to the pavilion by the brilliant fielding from Nepalgunj
cricketers.
Nepalgunj looked very promising in their
run-chase as the openers added 36 runs in first six overs. Their downfall started when
youngster Shakti Gauchan bowled Tajuddin in his first over. Arun Thapa soon departed after
Khatri trapped him leg before in 19. Rohit Sharma scored 18 runs and Ansari chipped in
unbeaten 21 off 22 balls but it was too late to the far-westerners as they could just
manage 112-8 in their full-quota of 33 overs.
Gauchan proved his potentials claiming two
wickets in seven over-spell giving away just five runs. Left-arm medium-pacer Regmi also
walked away with two wickets.
"Few big names in our squad failed to
show their brilliance today but I hope we will do better than this in our next match on
Monday," said Bairahawa skipper Raju Khadka. "We suffered a middle-order
collapse but Sen supported Vinay (Tripathi) in the later part of innings which took the
match away from Nepalgunj," he added.
Region No 1 will take on Region No 2 on Sunday. |
