KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Madhesh Province won their respective matches of the PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.

TAC defeated Lumbini Province by one wicket to ensure it ended the league stage undefeated, while Madhesh handed Nepal Police Club (NPC) a four-wicket defeat.

TAC will now meet Sudurpashchim Province in the final of the PM Cup on Friday. Sudurpashchim became the first provincial team to enter the final in the tournament’s nine-year history.

TAC vs Lumbini
Batting first in Match No. 44 in Janakpur, Lumbini folded for 138 runs in 39.2 overs. TAC managed to chase down the total with only one wicket in hand in 25.2 overs.

Lumbini top-order batters got the start but failed to build meaningful partnerships. Openers Ranjeet Khadka (28) and Prajjwol Thapa (25) added 42 for the first wicket for Lumbini. Captain Dev Khanal made 23, Dinesh Bohora scored 10, Aakash Trhipathi contributed 21 and Santosh Yadav chipped in with 11 runs. Other Lumbini batters failed to reach double digits.

Kushal Malla picked up four wickets for TAC, while Bhim Sharki and Naren Saud claimed two each, and Shahab Alam and Basir Ahahamd had a wicket each to their names.

Despite chasing a small total, TAC batters struggled with three, including opener Captain Binod Bhandari, out for ducks. Kushal Malla top-scored for TAC with a 360-ball 41. Arjun Saud made 28, Sharki contributed 18, Imran Sheikh remained not out at 16, and Basir Ahamad contributed 12. Trit Raj Das and Jitendra Thakuri chipped in with 10 each.

Santosh Yadav claimed five wickets for Lumbini, while Nirmal Gurung claimed four.

Madhesh vs NPC
Batting first in Match No. 45 in Birgunj, NPC, the defending champions, were all out for 130 runs in 40.3 overs. Madhesh chased down the target in 24.1 overs, helped by Arniko Yadav’s half-century.

Kushal Bhurtel top-scored for NPC with a 42-ball 39, while Shankar Rana made 27, Rashid Khan chipped in with 18, and Dinesh Kharel and Gulsan Jha contributed 15 each. Other NPC batters failed to reach double digits.

Pawan Sarraf, Ranjit Kumar and Aashik Baitha claimed three wickets each for Madhesh, while Aniko Yadav picked up one.

In reply, Arniko Yadav scored an unbeaten 65 off 44 balls to script Madhesh’s chase. He received support from Rupesh Singh, who made a not out 27 of 29 balls, at the other end. Himanshu Dutta chipped in with 18 runs.

Gulsan Jha claimed three wickets for NPC, while Sagar Dhakal picked up two and Lalit Rajbanshi had a wicket to his name.