After Chitwan Rhinos and Kathmandu Gurkhas won on Saturday, the competition between four teams for three places to secure the playoffs of Nepal Premier League (NPL) has reached an exciting stage.

Chitwan, who performed strong batting, beat top ranked Janakpur Bolts by 32 runs and Gurkhaz beat Pokhara Avengers by 6 wickets. With 3 games left to play in the round robin league, Janakpur is still at the top with 10 points.

Janakpur, who has secured a place in the playoffs, immediately lost the chance to reach Qualifiers 1. For this possibility, Janakpur will now have to rely on the results of other teams. Chitwan has strengthened its chances of reaching the playoffs with the victory. Chitwan have 8 points after playing all their 7 matches. 

Sudurpaschim Royal along with Chitwan and Karnali Yaks are in the second to fourth place respectively with 8 points. Gurkhaz is in fifth position with 6 points. With Chitwan's victory, Biratnagar Kings and Pokhara have been eliminated from the official race for the playoffs. Both teams have 4-4 points with 1-1 games left to play. Gurkhaz will play against Biratnagar and Sudurpaschim against Pokhara on Sunday. Gurkhaz must win this match to reach the playoffs by being in the top four. 

Even if Sudurpaschim wins one of the two matches, it will be sure to be the top team. If Karnali defeats Sudurpaschim, they can also be in the top two. Otherwise, at least a top four finish will be assured. However, if Karnali loses to Sudurpaschim in their last match, there is a possibility that the team will be overtaken by Gurkhaz. 

Nisham's important win for Chitwan

New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Nisham's adventurous innings, Chitwan defeated Janakpur in a match considered as decisive. Although Nisam scored 65 runs in 24 balls, Janakpur, who had a target of 181 runs, were bowled out for 148 runs in 18 overs.

After winning the first 4 matches, Janakpur has suffered two defeats in the following three matches. Janakpur coach Pubudu Dasanayake seemed happy that his team had a real test ahead of the playoffs rather than feeling sad at the loss. He says that his team is still in a strong position for the top two. 

Nisam scored a fifty in 18 balls. When he was on 58 off 21 balls, he was caught by Sohail Tanveer. But Tanveer's ball was overstepped, so Nisam, who was going to the pavilion, returned to the crease due to a no-ball. Nisam hit a six on the free hit opportunity.

He hit a total of 5 fours and 6 sixes and scored 65 runs and was dismissed by Tanveer. Nisam and Mohammad Mohison shared a 60-run partnership off 26 balls. This partnership was broken when Mohsin was run out after scoring 13 runs in 12 balls with 2 fours.

Anil Shah, who hit two fours in the first over, was dismissed by Rijan Dhakal in the last ball of the same over. Lahiru Milantha 1 and Harsh Thakar were dismissed for 6 runs. Shubh Kansakar scored 15 runs off 12 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. Opener Asif Shaikh scored 23 runs off 26 balls with 4 fours. Reason, Tanveer and captain Kushal Malla took 2 wickets each.

Earlier, Chitwan, who won the toss and batted at the Trivi Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, made a score of 180-5 on 72 runs by captain Kushal Malla. After Kushal and Ravi Bopara shared 113 runs in 67 balls for the fourth wicket, Chitwan made a strong score. Taking advantage of Jeevandan after Asif dropped a catch when he was on 54 runs, Kushal hit 3 fours and 7 sixes in 41 balls. Bopara scored 44 runs off 32 balls hitting 5 fours and 1 six.

Opener Bipin Rawal scored only 3 runs and was dismissed by Lalit Rajvanshi. Mohsin bowled Santosh Karki for 14 runs. Opener Hasan Isakhil scored 28 runs off 19 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. NPL's highest wicket taker Lalit Rajwanshi took 2 wickets. He spent only 11 runs keeping 2 maidens in 4 overs. Harsh Thakar, Jimmy Nisam and Mohsin took 1 wicket each. 

Gurkhaz's brilliant batting

Stefan Eskinazi's half-century led Kathmandu Gurkhaz to a 6-wicket win over Pokhara Avengers in the first match of the day. All-out Gurkhaz, who could not play 20 overs in the previous 2 matches, completed the target of 139 runs by scoring 142 runs in just 14.1 overs.  Gurkhaz vice-captain Gerhard Ersmus admitted that the

win had eased the pressure on the team. Stating that the performance of the team was affected when it was difficult for foreign players to play in this condition and on the wicket, Erasmus said that now the foreign players have understood this situation.

Eskinazi, who scored a half-century off 28 balls, gave Gurkhaz an aggressive start along with Michael Levitt. Although Levitt was dismissed for 33 runs off 18 balls with 6 fours and 1 six, Gurkhaz showed a great batting performance by adding 59 runs in the first 6 overs and 95 runs in the first 10 overs of the power play.

Levitt is stumped by Andres Gauss off Vipin Khatri. Eskinazi shared a 37-ball 67-run partnership with Bhim Sarki for the second wicket. Bhim hit 1 four and a six off 20 balls and was dismissed for 22 runs. Player of the match Eskinazi scored 60 runs off 34 balls and hit 10 fours.

Skipper Karan KC, who was sent up the order, scored only 1 run and was stumped by Vipin's ball. Erasmus, who hit a six and a four in the first two balls he faced, remained unbeaten with 1 four and 3 sixes in 10 balls and 25 and Rashid Khan scored 1 run.

Pokhara, who was invited to bat after Kathmandu won the toss, scored 138 runs after losing 8 wickets in 20 overs. Namibia's captain Erasmus gave Gurkhaz their first breakthrough by dismissing Gauss for a wicket in the second over. Another opener Dinesh Kharel scored 38 runs. He hit 6 fours and 1 six off 25 balls.

Rashid Khana took the wickets of captain Kushal Bhurtel and Dilip Nath along with Dinesh and made Gurkhaz dominant in the game. Bhurtel, who once again failed to bat, scored 7 runs and was bowled. Dilip, who came back to the team, scored 27 runs with 2 sixes in 24 balls before being bowled.  In the