Within 24 hours of coming to Kathmandu from UAE, Naren Saud took 5 wickets, consecutive defeat of Pokhara Avengers.
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Naren Saud arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday night from UAE after playing ACC U-19 Asia Cup. Less than 24 hours after his miraculous performance, Sudurpaschim Royals defeated Kathmandu Gurkhaz by 73 runs in Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket.
Young spinner Naren took 5 wickets at the Kirtipur-based Trivi Maidan. Devrehate spinner spent 19 runs in 3.5 overs for those wickets. He took the next 4 wickets with 3 runs and 11 balls.
From far, Avinash Bohra took 1 maiden in 3 overs for 12 runs and Brandon McMullen and Saif Zayeb took 1 wicket each.
Stephan Eskinazi scored 37 runs for Gurkhaz who had won well the previous day. He hit 5 fours and 1 six off 35 balls. Sumit Maharjan scored 14 runs, Bhim Sarki and Gerhard Ersmus scored 10 runs each. Michael Levitt 5, Shankar Rana 3, Rashid Khan 2, Prateek Shrestha 8 and captain Karan KC were dismissed for 1 run.
Earlier Sudurpaschim lost the toss and scored 167 runs after losing 6 wickets in 20 overs. In the middle order, captain Dipendrasingh Airey scored 43 runs off 25 balls and led the team to a fast score. He hit 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Dipendra played an aggressive innings after Scottish player McMullen was dismissed with a half-century. McMullen scored 53 runs off 36 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. Opener Jaib was dismissed for 11 runs off 9 balls with 1 boundary. Another opener Vinod Bhandari scored 35 runs. He played 28 balls and hit 2 fours and a six.
Rohan Mustafa 4 and Arif Shaikh 3 runs out. From Kathmandu Gurkhaz, Rashid spent 20 runs in 4 overs, Shahab Alam, Erasmus and Karan took 1 wicket each. Sudurpaschim won the first two matches. Gurkhaz have lost two out of three matches.
Janakpur Bolts won their third consecutive victory in the first match of the day. Janakpur defeated Pokhara Avengers by 7 wickets on Thursday. Janakpur scored 143 runs in 17.1 overs to win the target of 139 runs.
Narine Saud of Sudurpaschim Royals after dismissing Jehrard Erasmus of Kathmandu Gurkhaz. Photo: Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur
Unbeaten Jimmy Nisam scored 40 off 20 balls and Harsh Thacker scored 13 runs off 14 balls to give victory to Janakpur. Player of the match Nisam hit 5 sixes. Hit 24 runs with 3 sixes in one over from Matt Critchley. He hit the winning six.
Captain Anil Shah was dismissed in 1 run. Asif Shaikh scored 33 runs and Lahiru Malintha scored 45 runs to lay the groundwork for the Bolts' victory. Asif hit 3 fours in 34 balls and Malintha hit 8 fours in 32 balls. Bipin Khatri, Michael Lisk and captain Kushal Bhurtel took 1 wicket each from Pokhara.
Pokhara, who was invited to bat first, lost 7 wickets and scored 138 runs. Matt Critchley top scored for Pokhara with 35 runs. He hit 3 fours and 1 six off 30 balls. Lisk scored 25 runs off 13 balls with 3 sixes.
He was dismissed by Kishore Mahato in the last over. Kishore gave only 3 runs in the last over. Openers Dinesh Kharel scored 10 runs and Andrew Gaus scored 20 runs. Gauss hit 3 fours and 1 six off 16 balls. Captain Kushal Bhurtel disappointed again.
Jimmy Nisam of Janakpur played an attractive innings against Pokhara. Photo: Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur
He was stumped by Lalit Rajvanshi. Dilip Nath was out for 11 runs and Ramon Reefer was out for 17 runs. From Janakpur, Lalit took 3 wickets by spending 31 runs in 4 overs and Nisam took 2 wickets by spending 29 runs in 4 overs. This is Pokhara's second defeat in a row.
Saud says : 'The plan was to be the player of the match'
It was said that he would play this match even though he came from the UAE only last night. I was planning accordingly that night to be the player of the match. I had taken 5 wickets many times before, but being on a big stage, this was special for me.
This is my first time playing in such a big league. Jagat Guru (Coach Jagat Tamata) and Deepi Dai (Captain Deependrasinh Airi) motivated me by telling me to hit the ball line and length, you will win the game. I was also playing openly accordingly. I think I can go higher if I bowl better.
I want to give credit to them for this 5 wickets. Deepi dai is also from his own area so it was easy. He was reminded even when he took two boundaries in the first over. Erasmus' wicket was special for me. He had already hit me for a six before taking any wicket.
The U-19 did not fare well in the Asia Cup. But even there I was throwing the ball on the line. It was also good because the wickets in UAE and here are similar. Shakti Gauchan, the U-19 coach, also helped me a lot in terms of bowlers.
