Aarif Sheikh and Rashid Khan produced a remarkable recovery act as Nepal Police Club defeated Koshi Province by six wickets in Match 21 of the PM Cup after slipping to 11 for 4 in the chase.
Earlier, Nepal Police's bowlers had done the groundwork by dismissing Koshi for 162 in 42.5 overs. Suman Shrestha top-scored with 43, while Sujan Thapaliya made 48 and Ankit Subedi added 26, but Koshi lost their way after reaching 141 for 4 and were unable to push on.
Dinesh Kharel was the standout with the ball, returning 5 for 21 in 7.5 overs. Sagar Dhakal supported him with 2 for 14 in a miserly 10-over spell, while Lalit Rajbanshi also picked up two wickets as Nepal Police tightened their grip in the second half of the innings.
Koshi then made the perfect start with the ball. Dipesh Kandel removed Dinesh Kharel, Bipin Mahato struck twice, and Nepal Police were suddenly reeling at 11 for 4 inside eight overs. At that point, Koshi had a real opening to pull off a major upset.
But captain Aarif and Rashid shut the door completely. The pair rebuilt calmly before accelerating, adding an unbeaten 154 runs for the fifth wicket to turn the match decisively in Nepal Police's favour. Aarif finished unbeaten on 81 off 79 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six, while Rashid remained not out on 73 from 90 balls with eight fours and a six.
Nepal Police reached 165 for 4 in 33.5 overs, completing the chase with 16.1 overs to spare. The win kept them at the top of the points table, while Koshi remained at the bottom after another defeat.
