In the Prime Minister's Cup Lumbini state level women's selection T-20 cricket tournament, Dang and Rupandehi team have entered the semi-finals as group winners.

On the third day of the tournament organized by the Lumbini Pradesh Cricket Association at the Deukhuri International Cricket Stadium in Lamhi, Dang Banke was defeated by 5 wickets and became the winner of Group B. Similarly, Rupandehi defeated Bardia by 4 runs and entered the semi-finals as the winner of Group A.

Banke, who won the toss and batted first in the T-20 Qualifying Tournament with the participation of women cricket players from 6 districts of Lumbini, scored 101 runs in 17.2 overs losing all wickets. Banke's Sushmita Ranju Shrestha scored 34 runs and Suraksha Pun Magar scored 15 runs, but other players could not score double-digit runs. On the

bowling side, Madhu DC of Dang took 2 wickets by giving 13 runs in 4 overs, while Samsika KC took 2 wickets by giving 15 runs in 2.2 overs. Similarly, Asna Chaudhary gave 26 runs in 2 overs and took 2 wickets while Sirisa Chaudhary and Anita Chaudhary took 1 wicket each.

With a winning target of 120 runs, Dang came out to bat in the field and completed the target with the loss of 5 wickets in 19 overs. GM Saraswati played captaincy for Dang and contributed an unbeaten 55 runs off 34 balls with 9 fours. Opener Supriya Budha Magar scored 11 runs. Other players could not make double runs.

Banke's Swastika Bajgai took 2 wickets by giving 15 runs with 1 maiden in 4 overs. Manisha Rana and Jakan Pun took 1 wicket each. Dang's captain Saraswati GM became the player of the match in the tournament. Despite the loss to Dang, Banke has previously defeated Palpa and entered the semi-finals by becoming the group runner-up.

Similarly, in the second match on Saturday afternoon, Rupandehi in Group 'A' defeated Bardia by winning by 4 runs. Rupandehi, who lost the toss and was invited to bat first, made 94 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Other than Angela Pathak scoring 19 runs and Kavita Khadka scoring 15 runs for

form, other players could not score double runs. Bardia's Bimala Pun took 2 wickets for 11 runs in 4 overs while Ritisa Manandhar, Kritika Chhetri and Deepa Kunwar took 1 wicket each.

  Bardia, who went into batting with a winning target of 95 runs, lost by 4 runs because he could not play. For Bardiya, Pemalamu Sherpa contributed 21 runs, Deepa Kunwar 16 runs and Kamna Bisht contributed 14 runs, but the other players could not stay at the crease, so they lost. 

Rupandehi's Angela Pathak performed an all-rounder to beat Bardia by a narrow margin. She bowled 3.2 overs and took 4 important wickets at the expense of 14 runs. Similarly, Anchal Roka Magar took 2 wickets by giving 6 runs with 1 maiden in 2 overs and Seema Thapa took 1 wicket by giving 16 runs in 2 overs.

Rupandehi's Angela Pathak was the player of the match. Palpa and Bardia have been eliminated from the tournament without a win. While Dang and Rupandehi reached the semi-finals as group winners, Nawalparasi and Banke also reached the semi-finals as group runners-up. Within the

competition, the semi-finals will be played between Group 'A' winner Rupandehi and Group 'B' runner-up Banke in the morning and Group 'B' winner Dang and Group 'A' runner-up Nawalparasi in the afternoon. Secretary of Lumbini Pradesh Cricket Association Kailash Roka Magar informed that the final match of the qualifying tournament will be held on 29th of January.

The Prime Minister's Cup Women's Qualifying T-20 cricket tournament will be held from January 1 at the Phapla Cricket Ground in Dhangadhi. As a preparation for that, the Lumbini state level selection competition has started. Eight teams including seven provinces and one departmental team APF will compete in the competition. All 8 teams will play against each other in the tournament and the top four teams in the points table will qualify for the playoffs. In which the top two teams will play the first qualifier. The winning team will go directly to the finals.