Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) set up a second consecutive title clash in the Women”s National Cricket Tournament winning their respective semifinal matches on Sunday.

Riding on Jyoti Pandey”s 100 runs — the fifth century of the tournament — and Rubina Rana”s phenomenal six-wicket haul, defending champion APF romped to a resounding 221-run win over Region No 3 (Kathmandu) at the Pulchowk Engineering College Ground.

Nepalgunj set up a rematch of the previous final with APF thrashing Region No 6 (Baitadi) by seven wickets in another semifinal at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur after Trishna Singh had claimed five wickets. The final will be held on Monday at the TU Cricket Ground.

Both APF and Nepalgunj are two-time winners of the tournament.

Opting to bat first, APF posted 245/1 in 40 overs with Sita Rana Magar and Pandey sharing an unbeaten 194-run partnership for the second wicket.

Pandey struck 13 fours to make 100 off 105 balls, while Magar”s 74 off 106 included nine fours.

APF lost opener Madhu Thapa, bowled by Kamala Rai on 10, as its only wicket.

In reply, APF bundled out Kathmandu for just 24 runs in 14.4 overs as seven batswomen were sent back to the pavilion without scoring. Rabina Bhandari was the highest scorer for Kathmandu with 10 runs.

Chhetri claimed six wickets, bowling three maiden overs and giving away only nine runs in her seven-over spell.

Ritu Kanaujiya also claimed three wickets for APF.

In the second semifinal, Baitadi succumbed to a huge defeat after none of its batswomen was able to reach double figures.

Batting first, Baitadi could manage only 59 runs in 23.1 overs losing all wickets.

Apart from Singh”s five-wicket haul, skipper Nary Thapa claimed two wickets and Samjhana Sharma took one.

Chasing a meager target, Nepalgunj sealed victory in the 11th over losing three wickets.

Thapa topscored with 25 runs while opener Geeta Gosain contributed 11 runs. Rekha Rawal and Asha Saki bagged one wicket apiece.

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The final match will be played on Sunday, 13 Jan, at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.

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