By a Staff Reporter
Madesh Province beat Lumbini Province by 16 runs to confirm their spot in the semifinals of the National Women’s Cricket Tournament.
Invited to bat first, Madhesh placed 107/5 in the allocated 20 overs. While Anuradha Chaudhary returned to the dugout following a diamond duck, Opener Alisha Yadav collected 8 runs.
Pratima Sah 2, Roji Kadari 15, and Amiran Nisha added 5 runs to the tally. Sana Praveen remained unbeaten contributing the highest of 46 runs off 64 balls with 5 fours. Moreover, Saraswati Kumari shared the crease till the end with Sana for 4 runs.
Lumbini’s Maneesha Rana, Saraswati Pun, and Bivasna BC took a wicket each.
Later Madhesh defended the winning target of 108 runs and restricted Lumbini to 91/5 in the scheduled 20 overs. Opening the innings, Laxmi Chaudhary and Ashma Pulami Magar scored 12 and 11 runs each.
With Skipper Saraswati GM contributing 11 runs, Saraswati Pun departed for 10. While Sushmita Bajgai left for a duck out, Ranju Shrestha and Madhu DC remained unbeaten for 21.
Madesh’s bowler Bhumi Singh picket 2 wickets whereas Kabita Gautam booked 1.
Bagging 4 points from 3 games, Madhesh confirmed their spot in the semifinals of the tournament as Group ‘B’ runners-up. Province 1, and Sudurpaschim Province have booked their spot previously topping their respective groups. APF has qualified for the semifinal as Group ‘A’ runners-up.
The Group ‘A’ winners will face Group ‘B’ runners-up in the first semi-final whereas the Group ‘B’ winners will take on Group ‘A’ runners-up in the second semi-final. The semifinals will be held on January 20.
