Cricket Events

The victory song is echoing loud and clear in Mirchi Lumbini’s Camp after claiming the victory against rival Nepcoms Laligurans. A much anticipated match of GNC tournament; Lumbini comprehensively gained the upper hand. Winning the toss, Captain Arjen Aryal opted to bat. Openers Nabin Gurung and Ashish Siwakoti briefly gave the start Laligurans dreamed of. Nabin hit a massive six off Ketan Pokharel in the fourth ball he faced. However, Nabin’s fiery start was scuffed by Kiran Bhattarai’s icy deliveries. Nabin’s start was as brisk as it was brief. His early departure was expensive to Laligurans total game strategy. Sudhir Shrestha- a shy genius in many innings for Laligurans failed to cheer the crowd adding only 3 runs to the total. Lumbini’s Kiran Bhattarai must bucketed praises to produce deliveries to remove quality players like Nabin and Sudhir cheaply. If the early departure of top batting duo was harsh reality for Laligurans; what followed was catastrophic. Sagar Khadka spurred his magic claiming 3 wickets sparing a single run in the middle overs. Raj Kumar Gurung (0), Arjen Aryal (0) and Ganesh DC (0) all lost the plot as pressure mounted. On the other hand; Sagar showed why he is one of the sought players in this tournament snatching Man of the Match award as well. Captain Dipendra Bhattarai removed Ajay Chettri for nought. Misery stricken Laligurans was 6 for 44 runs in their 10th overs. This calamity drifted Laligurans to “Black Hole” where the light of victory was s nowhere to be seen. Ashish was a silver lining in Laligurans’ inning with poised 30 off 29 balls. With 5 fours and a six; Ashish provided a much needed answer to fast bowlers. Facing new ball; he set the tone for the inning, which other key players left in their bags. However, his nerve got better off him, when he misjudged the ball from Sagar Khadka. Uddhav Chalise showed his formidable batting strength down the order with 23 runs just off 12 deliveries. Dipendra Bhattarai bowled skillfully with the mindset like a true ‘poacher’. With minimal total on the board, Laligurans’ lower batting line up was prepared to throw the bats. Pressure mounting on the crease; playing long haul was a distant reality. Dipendra bowled with flight and drift to claim 4 wickets to limit Laligurans for 109 runs. Once again Abhay Shrestha gave a strong start to Lumbini with polished 35 runs off 60 balls. Along with Govind karki, Abhay played with sound technique and temperament. Govind played with controlled aggression to contribute valuable 38 runs. Both openers were quick to dispatch the bad deliveries accumulating runs to off the pressure. They put the partnership of 80 runs for the first wicket. Ajay Chettri bowled well removing both Lumbini’s openers. He also removed Ketan Pokharel in the very first delivery for naught. Sagar Khadka (0) and Dipendra Bhattrai (0) was stumbled out in the successive deliveries by Rajkumar Gurung opting for his second ‘Hat Trick’ of the tournament. However, Noor Thapa and Ram Chalise put the final nail in the coffin for Lumbini proclaiming the victory. Full credit goes to Lumbini for their outstanding performance. Laligurans lost the way fighting with nerves. It will be a huge mental challenge for Laligurans to claim the glory against Lumbini. On contrary, Lumbini has gained a moral boost to fuel the momentum.