Shankar Rana's unbeaten century has helped Nepal Police Club secure its first win in the Jai Trophy Men's Elite Cup two-day cricket match.

Defending champions Police defeated departmental rivals Nepal APF Club by 9 wickets at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Tuesday. Shankar, who started the day's play with an unbeaten 105 runs, declared the first innings at 277 for 7 after losing 7 wickets. Shankar alone contributed 57 runs as Police added 98 more runs on Tuesday. It was also his first century in national cricket.

Shankar was at the crease with 96 runs with only two overs left for Police to bat in the scheduled 70 overs. After taking 1 run off the first ball of the second and last over, he came back to strike in the fifth ball and completed his century by hitting a straight six off Yuvraj Khatri. In the next over, Police declared the innings with a lead of 92 runs.

Shankar hit 3 fours and 5 sixes in 155 balls. He was well supported by Rashid Khan. The two shared a 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket in 16 overs. Rashid scored 30 runs in 44 balls, including 1 four and a six. Shravan Yadav was dismissed for nil. Avinash Karna scored 10 runs in 14 balls, including 2 fours. 

APF, which could only score 185 runs in the first innings, also ended its second innings for 204 runs. Opener Deepak Bohra scored 94 runs. He added 65 runs for the first wicket with Asif Sheikh, and APF showed signs of being able to take the game towards a draw 

. But after Asif was cut and bowled by Sagar Dhakal for 21 runs, the other batters could not last long at the crease. 

Deepak hit 9 fours and 3 sixes in 129 balls. He was caught lbw by Shankar. Captain Rohit Poudel 8, Sandeep Jora 11, Sumit Maharjan nil, Bhuvan Karki 4, Lokash Bam 1 were out. In the lower order, Amarsingh Rautela scored 32 runs in 77 balls, including 4 fours. Irshad Ahmed remained unbeaten on 20 runs with 3 fours in 51 balls. Yuvraj was out for 7 and Abhishek Gautam was out for zero. 

Police's Lalit Rajbanshi took 5 wickets. He cost 80 runs in 28.3 overs. Lalit, who also took 4 wickets in the first innings, was named the player of the match. Kushal Bhurtel took 3 wickets in 15 overs, including 2 maidens, and cost 56 runs. Police scored the required 113 runs in 16 overs. Sohail Kunwar was dismissed for 7 runs by Bhuvan, but Bhurtel and Amit Shrestha shared a 90-run partnership for the second wicket to give Police victory. Bhurtel remained unbeaten on 71 and Amit remained unbeaten on 32 runs. Bhurtel hit 4 fours and 5 sixes in 53 balls, and Amit hit 2 fours and a six in 25 balls. 

Police scored 27.5 and APF scored 11.5 points. Tribhuvan Army Club is at the top with 42.5 points. Police has 38 and APF has 37.5 points. Bagmati Province is at the fourth position with 27.5 points. 

Army and Bagmati draw

The match between Army Club and Bagmati Province at Mulpani Cricket Ground ended in a draw. Army scored 18.5 and Bagmati scored 14.5 points in the match. On Tuesday, Army started the match at 191-3 and the team declared its innings at 352-7 in 69.3 overs, taking a lead of 93 runs. Naren Bhatt scored 66 off 51 balls and Pawan Karki remained unbeaten with 20 runs off 16 balls. Naren hit 1 four and 8 sixes. Out of these, he hit 5 sixes off Bagmati captain Sandeep Lamichhane.

Santosh Karki was run out for 43 runs, his personal score from the previous day. Bashir Ahmed scored 13 and Kushal Malla scored 17 runs. Bagmati's Rijan Dhakal and Sandeep took 2 wickets each. But Sandeep ended up conceding 128 runs in 27 overs with 7 maidens. Bipin Acharya and Ishan Pandey took 1 wicket each. 

Bagmati declared the end of the second innings at 210-3. Openers Ashutosh Ghiraiya and Rit Gautam both scored half-centuries and added 105 runs. Ashutosh scored 76 runs in 124 balls with 11 fours and Rit scored 56 runs in 78 balls with 9 fours. Ashutosh, who scored his second half-century in the match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He also scored 77 runs in the first innings. Shubh Kansakar was out for 9 runs. Ishan Pandey remained unbeaten on 41 runs in 58 balls with 5 fours and 1 six and Uttam Thapa Magar remained unbeaten on 13 runs. Army's Bashir Ahmed took 2 wickets and Pawan took 1 wicket.