Magar bowls APF to PM Cup semi-finals

POKHARA, JUN 14 - Sarita Magar completed a six-wicket haul to put Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club in the Prime Minister Cup Women’s National Twenty20 semi-finals at the Rangashala grounds on Saturday.

In their final Group ‘B’ match, APF crushed Region 3 (Kathmandu) by 60 runs to finish at the top of the table with seven points from four games. Region 1 (Biratnagar), meanwhile, remained in hunt to qualify for the last four from same pool with a thrilling three-run victory over Region 5 (Nepalgunj). Kathmandu are second in the pool with four points, two ahead of Nepalgunj and Biratnagar.

Nepalgunj and Biratnagar take on each other on Sunday where only huge-margin victory for any of the side can put them in the last four at the expense of Kathmandu who face already knocked out team Region 8 ( Pokhara ). Even a slim margin defeat for Kathmandu is enough to eliminate the two teams.

An unbeaten 44 from opener Madhu Thapa guided APF to 115-6 in 20 overs. Magar did the rest of the job wreaking havoc in Kathmandu batting order bundling out the opponents for just 55 in 17.2 overs. Suman Khatiwada (13) was the only Kathmandu batswoman to make runs in double digits. Magar returned the figures of 6-6 from four overs.

Earlier, APF innings was built around Thapa who shared 31 runs for the fourth wicket with Ritu Kanojiya (12), 33 for the fifth with Jyoti Pandey (seven) and 23 for the sixth with skipper Rubina Chhetri. The captain collected 16 off 24 with three fours. Thapa’s 51-ball innings included six boundaries.

Nepalgunj headed into their penultimate game and got the edge when three wickets each from Trishna Singh and Gita Gosai restricted Biratnagar to 73-9 in the match reduced to 18-over-a-side.

However, Biratnagar bowled their heart out and stopped Nepalgunj at 70-7. Sabnam Rai (3-16) was the pick of the Biratnagar bowlers, while Sabnam Rai’s envious figures of 1-6 from four overs tightened the screws.

Singh also shined with the bat making an unbeaten 29 off 43 with a boundary but to no avail. Biratnagar also had a one-player show with Roma Thapa contributing 31 runs to the total. She hit four boundaries in 39 deliveries. Sharmila Roka Magar also picked up two wickets for Nepalgunj.

In Group ‘A’ at Chitwan, Region 7 (Janakpur) edged Region 9 (Dhangadi) by 15 runs to finish pool winners. Dhangadi did well to restrict Janakpur to 84-6 in 20 overs but they failed to make impact with the bat restricted to 69-8. Dhangadi have four points from three matches and must defeat Region 2 (Birgunj) in their last match to go through.

Mamta Chaudhary accounted for almost half of the Janakpur total scoring an unbeaten 36 from 42 with four boundaries. Shova Ale (12) and Anuradha Chaudhary (11) were their next best scorers. Kavita Kunwar picked up 3-10 from four overs for Dhangadi. Janakpur bowlers, in their defence, put on a disciplined attack after Anuradha and Shanti Chaudhary picked up two wickets each. Janaki Bhatta top scored with 13 for Dhangadi.

Region 6 (Baitadi) defeated Birgunj by 27 runs in a match that was reduced to five overs due to poor ground conditions. Baitadi made 47-2 riding on 19-ball 27 from opener Anjali Chand. Birgunj, in reply, were restricted to 20-5 after Chand and Samjhana Khadka picked up two wickets each.