New Horizon Club Butwal reached the semi-finals of the Arjuna Trophy National Cricket Tournament on Friday despite a 78-run defeat against CYC Attaria. Dashrath Chand Academy Baitadi and Cricket Excellence Center (CEC) Kathmandu, who have the same 2 points in run rate, reached the semi-finals.
Attaria won all 3 matches in Group 'B' while Horizon, Baitadi and CEC won only 1 match each. But being ahead in net run rate, Horizon has secured a semi-final meeting with Group 'A' winners Friends Club Dadeldhura on Saturday. Another semi-final will be played on Sunday between Group 'B' winner Attaria and Group 'A' runner-up DCA Dhangadhi.
Attaria, who lost the toss and was invited to bat on Friday at the Phapla Cricket Ground in Dhangadhi, lost 5 wickets and scored 188 runs in 20 overs. Bhim Sarki and Vivek Yadav played half-centuries. Bhim scored 58 off 39 balls with 8 fours and player of the match Vivek scored 51 off 38 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes.
Shankar Rana added 31 runs and captain Santosh Karki added 23 runs. Nirmal Gurung of Butwal took 2 wickets, Veer Magar, Tul Bahadur Thapa and Viprasan KC took 1 wicket each. In reply, Horizon lost 8 wickets and scored only 110 runs. Prateek Shrestha added 18 runs, Tul Bahadur 17 and Veer Magar 15 runs. Attaria's Rashid Khan, Vivek and Shahab Alam took 2 each and Kamal Gupta and Dipesh Kandel took 1 each. The tournament organized by
Go Dreamers and held according to the annual calendar of the Nepal Cricket Association will be held until January 28. The winner will get a trophy with 10 lakhs and runner-up with 5 lakhs. 1 lakh to the best player, 50,000 to the best batsman, bowler and emerging players.
