Armed Police Force make it three in three; Province Number 2 notch maiden win

Saraswati Kumari (3/3) and Kabita Gautam (3/5) shared six wickets between them as Province Number 2 defeated Karnali Police by 143 runs to register their maiden win in the Prime Minister Cup in Lamahi on Monday (December 28). This was Karnali’s third win on the trot.



Defending 166, the Province Number 2 bowlers gave no room to their opposition restricting them to a paltry 22 for 9 in 20 overs – the lowest till now in the competition. Monika Rana was the first to go, run out without facing a ball skipper Laxmi Rimal followed suit also for a duck.



Thereafter, wickets kept tumbling in every next over with the Karnali Province batters never got a chance to build on the innings. Aarati Chaudhary (1/1) and Santoshi Chaudhary (1/9) also got a wicket apiece. Aarati was the most economical among all producing an astonishing 23 dot balls in her four overs.



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Earlier, an unbeaten 69 off 60 balls from Anuradha Chaudhary helped Province reach 165 for 3 in 20 overs. Along with Sobha Aale (23), the duo game put on 66 runs for the first wicket giving batters down the order a solid base to open their arms.



Santoshi got out cheaply but along with Bimala Magar (21) by her side, Anuradha stitched another 74-run partnership to help the team cross the 160-run mark.



In the other match of the day, Armed Police Force (APF) once again showed their prowess, defeating Lumbini Province by 62 runs to make it three out of three wins. Batting first, APF rode on opener Jyoti Pandey’s 49 runs to put on 122 for 4 in 20 overs.



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Pandey along with Indu Barma (28) stitched 62 runs for the second wicket. Nary Thapa (2/26) was the star bowler for Lumbini Province with two wickets. In the chase, Lumbini never looked in comfort losing half of the batting line-up with just 39 runs on the board.



Laxmi Chaudhary (11) and Saraswati Pun (10) were the only two batters with double digits as Lumbini could only manage 61 for 7 in their 20 overs.  Karuna Bhandari was the pick of the APF bowlers picking 3/16 in her four overs.



Brief scores:



Armed Police Force: 122/4 in 20 overs (Jyoti Pandey 49; Nary Thapa 2/26) beat Lumbini Province 61/7 in 20 overs (Laxmi Chaudhary 11; Karuna Bhandari 3/16) by 62 runs.



Province Number 2: 165/3 in 20 overs (Anuradha Chaudhary 69) beat Karnali Police 22/9 in 20 overs (Saraswati Kumari 3/3, Kabita Gautam 3/5) by 143 runs.