Region No 4 Bhairahawa entered into the final of the Pepsi T20 Men´s National League defeating Region No 2 Birgunj by 89 runs at the Pulchowk Cricket Ground.
Electing to bat first, Bhairahawa compiled 132 runs in the limited 20 overs losing nine wickets. Bhairahawa had a disastrous start as they were at 8 runs losing two wickets.
However, Shakti Gauchan scored 40 runs off 48 balls and anchored their innings. Likewise, Antim Thapa struck 28 runs and Dipesh Khatri remained unbeaten on 24 runs to take Bhairahawa to a good total.
Binod Das claimed three wickets for Birgunj.
While chasing the total, Birgunj batted horribly and were all out for 43 runs in 17.4 overs. Dipendra Shah and Ajay Mandal were the highest scorers as they struck seven runs each.
Man-of-the-match Krishna Karki took three wickets while Amrit Bhattarai and Rahul Kumar BK took two wickets each to demolish Birgunj.
With the win, Bhairahawa have four wins from as many matches. Bhairahawa will take on Region No 1 Biratnagar on Sunday.
In another match, Biratnagar defeated Region No 6 Baitadi by four runs on Saturday to keep their hopes alive for the final.
Biratnagar, batting first, put up 132 runs in the limited 17 overs losing eight wickets as the match was shortened by three overs because of wet pitch. Although Biratnagar lost wickets at regular intervals, opener Mehboob Alam´s blistering innings of 52 runs off 28 balls and Ajay Rajbanshi´s 24 runs took them to a good total.
Shakti Bhandari, Pradeep Airee and Prem Budal claimed two wickets each for Baitadi.
Baitadi gave a good fight in the run chase as Binod Bhandari (62 runs off 47 balls) and Shakti Bhandari (43 runs off 34 balls) played blazing knocks. However, no other batsman contributed in double figures and they were limited to 127/7 in 17 overs.
Man-of-the-match Mehboob Alam took three wickets while Manjeet Shrestha plugged two Baitadi wickets.
With the win, Biratnagar have six points from four matches while Birgunj have equal points and superior net run rate than Biratnagar from five matches. Kathmandu have four points from four matches while Baitadi have two points from four matches.
Kathmandu will take on Baitadi on Sunday and will be hoping for Bhairahawa´s win against Biratnagar.
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Region # 1 Biratnagar and Region # 4 Bhairahawa truly deserve to be in the Finals. For region # 3 Kathmandu, they would be ruing for not making into the finals …..The grand finale should be an exciting affair, though Biratnagar will have a psychological advantage over Bhairahawa for having defeated them in the last league-game. However, it would be foolhardy to underestimate Bhairahawa based on this single game, as their players have displayed a superb game throughout the tournament. All their major players have contributed and it has been a cohesive effort which has bulldozed them into the Finals.
For Biratnagar, the dangerman Mehboob Alam has found his devastating touch and when he fires, it is he, who captures the cynosure of all eyes with his booming drives and skyrocketing shots all over the place. So, the Biratnagar will hope he fires one more time in the finals. All in all, it should be a keen contest with Bhairawaha would like to avenge the defeat they had in the last encounter and in contrast Biratnagar would like to build on the psychological advantage they have for having defeated them in the last game. But as I said before, in this Twenty20 Cricket, no sooner you reckon the game is in your grasp than the fluctuating scales change the complexion of the game unexpectedly.
Any way, the crowd will certainly enjoy this exciting and keen tussle…..