Cricket Events

Yet another season of GNC OneDayer concluded with victorious Nepcoms Laligurans lifting the trophy beating rival Mirchi Lumbini. Laligurans won the battle in an empathetic fashion, glorifying themselves with their second trophy for the tournament. Chasing the target of 137 for victory set by Lumbini, Laligurans made the ground after wobbly start. The star of the show Ashish Siwakoti played vital role to drag Laligurans to conquer the victory. His 46 runs of 82 deliveries was the backbone of Laligurans’ run- chase. A little cameo from Nabin Gurung provided thumping to both bowling attack and the blood pressure of the crowd. A well orchestrated plan of attack and batting lineup has seen Laligurans to prevail over its much competitive nemesis. In a classic showdown between two giants of the game, emotions, nerves and passion played vital role. With the norm of final, heat was on both sides to settle the score. Gough Whitlam Park had bit for everyone. The pitch offered pace for seamers, while batsmen enjoyed the true bounce. It was inevitable that a big score was key to success. With grey sky and cooler atmosphere, Captain Arjen Aryal elected to bowl first for Laligurans. Openers Abhay Shrestha and Govind Karki from Lumbini had celebrated success as a pair by far. Specially, Abhay had good run coming up to the final. However, reciprocating it to execution in the finals was different ball game. Laligurans’ Gunjan Shrestha gave taste of pace and swings to the batsmen. Both batsmen controlled their urge for big shots earlier. However, Govind karki is not known for his slower game. On Gunjan‘s second over, Govind Lofted the ball at mid on providing a rare chance. However, fieldsman Uddhav Chalise grassed it. Dropping Govind’s catch is a felony in itself as he can turn the game around alone. However, Captain Arjen Aryal bowled and set the field trapping him the very next over. Govind exiled contributing only 9 runs to the total. Gunjan rippled through Abhay’s stumps to put Laligurans on course on the very next over. Abhay’s wicket with 8 runs was not what Lumbini needed on the batting pitch. Lumbini’s most productive phase came with the partnership of Captain Dipendra Bhattrai (11) and Sagar Khadka (36). However, creating a safety net for saving wickets, they set their scoring to minimum. As a result, only 47 runs were yielded for 97 balls. Ketan Pokharel (22) also managed to keep the attack on bay churning 46 deliveries. Runs tickled rather than flowing as ball scarce of boundary rope. Rajmani Dhakal broke the shackles by taking 4 vital wickets including Sagar Khadka and Dipendra Bhattarai. It was not till Noor Thapa (11 of 11 balls) and Ram Chalise (12 of 13 balls) provided some urgency in batting. Clearly, Lumbini fail to absorb the hype of the occasion. Batting sensibly almost proved lifeless. Praise must be sung though, for Lumbini as they have done their homework against quality spin attack of Laligurans that had cast fear and uncertainty in many rival teams. Laligurans’ chief tormentor Ajay Chettri bowled with flight and drift. However, Lumbini had plan for safer play to keep wickets intact. Raj Kumar Gurung also remained wicket less. Lumbini’s modest batting reflected on scoreboard with 136 runs in total. Laligurans’ run chase was far from ideal as opener Raj Kumar Gurung (0) and Uddhav Chalise (4) departed quickly sparking the fear of collapse. Sudhir Shrestha (8) played a glorious square cut, carpeting the ball all the way to the boundary. However, his glory ended with the superb delivery. A surprise shuffle in batting order seen Nabin Gurung taking the guard at no. 5. The score board of 3 for 42 in 10th over was less impressive. Nabin changed the course of game smashing two huge sixes and 2 fours accumulating 20 just off 13 balls. And the very moment Lumbini realised that they have underestimated their opponent’s batting strength. Nabin brought crowd alive with his clean hitting. However, his success was short lived as he skied the slower delivery from saga Khadka. “Nobody question his talent just the temperament” as he sacrificed his wicket. With drama unfolding other end, Ashish Siwakoti was virtually undetected from Lumbini’s radar. Ashish initially laboured for his runs but proved pivotal as he partnered with Nabin, Arjen (15) and later with Gunjan (6 no) to put Laligurans on the top. The beauty of his inning was his responsible approach and careful execution of his batting. Lumbini had the long list of ‘target’ players with specific plans for them. And they were successful in many fronts. However, Ashish played gem of the inning anchoring and scripting the victory for Laligurans. His flawless inning was mixture of self control and understanding of the game, which saw him securing Man of the Match award for it. Laligurans concluded victory with 3 wickets to spare. Credit to captain Arjen Aryal for timely change of bowling options to capture vital wickets specially using Rajmani in short bursts. Ashis’s subtle and Nabin’s full throttle batting display confused Lumbini’s plan of attack. At the end, equation was in favour of Laligurans no matter where the sum began. Victorious Laligurans shines once again on the back of their healthy performance. Till the next season Good Luck and Good Bye.