Police, which won the title by defeating the Army in Birgunj last year, maintained the same momentum this time as well.
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Nepal Police Club has won the Jai Trophy Men's Elite Cup cricket title for the second consecutive year. After a partnership of 94 runs by Rashid Khan and Kushal Bhurtel, Police defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by 4 wickets in the final held at the Upper Cricket Ground in Mulpani on Thursday.
Police achieved the target of 227 runs after the tea session of the third and final day of the match. Police scored 230 runs in 57 overs in that process. Last year, Police had defeated Army in Birgunj to win the title. But this time it was not like that.
Army had defeated Police by 9 wickets in the first match. Police could only score 187-8 and 88 runs in both innings respectively. This made it difficult for Police to reach the semi-finals. Since then, Police has performed strongly and won all 3 matches. Police coach Manjit Shrestha considers the title journey to be natural.
‘Our teamwork is very good, we are all committed people on the cricket field, even in a losing situation, the enthusiasm of not only the players, but also the management and the coaching team is in line with that,’ said the former player of the Nepali national team, ‘There is good coordination in our team. There is no pressure in the team, the players can play positively in any situation.’ He believes that the results are also good because the police organization is good.
Dilsad Ali remained unbeaten on 31 runs in 57 balls with 4 fours and 1 six and Shankar Rana remained unbeaten on 13 runs with 2 fours in 8 balls. After Amit Shrestha was dismissed for zero and Dinesh Kharel for 25 runs, Rashid and Kushal had a solid partnership for the third wicket. Kusal scored 51 and Rashid scored 81 runs. Kusal hit 5 fours in 64 balls and Player of the Final Rashid hit 8 fours and 3 sixes in 128 balls.
After Kushal and Arif played confidently, the Police did not give the Army any chance. Captain Arif Sheikh was out for 14 runs in 21 balls, hitting 1 four and a six, while Gulshan Jha was out for 1 run. Army's Pawan Karki took 2 and Shahab Alam took 1 wicket.
Earlier, the Police, which started the third day's play at 178-9, added 48 more runs. Akash Chand and Sompal Kami, who was batting while injured, added a total of 49 runs for the tenth wicket. Sagar Dhakal broke the partnership by dismissing Akash.
Akash scored 37 runs in 102 balls, including 5 fours. Sompal, who played despite an injury to his left hand, remained unbeaten on 23 runs. He hit 3 fours in 76 balls. Sagar took 4 wickets for 43 runs in 16.2 overs, including 2 maidens. Karan KC and Lalit Rajbanshi took 3 wickets each.
Both teams scored 221 runs in the first innings. Army scored 221 runs in the first innings with Imran Sheikh's 50, Bhim Sarki's 39 and Kushal Malla's 38 runs. After Karan scored an unbeaten 72 runs, the Police's first innings score was also restricted to 221 runs.
Police's Lalit Rajbanshi was adjudged the best bowler and player of the series. He was awarded the title of best bowler as he took 20 wickets before the final, and he took a total of 26 wickets, including 6 wickets in the final, and he was entitled to the player of the series award. Ishan Pandey of Bagmati Province was adjudged the best batsman. He scored 331 runs in 3 group stage matches. In the final, Kushal Bhurtel of Police surpassed Ishan to score a total of 336 runs by scoring 18 and 51 runs respectively. The winner was awarded by Nepal Cricket Association Secretary Paras Khadka and Treasurer Padam Khadka.
