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After Scott Kuglen took 5 wickets, Sudurpaschim Royals defeated Pokhara Avengers by 5 runs in the second match of Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket on Sunday. Pokhara, who came with a target of 154 runs after Kuglen bowled brilliantly, were bowled out for 148 runs in 19.4 overs.
After spending only 1 run in the first two over spell, Kuglen took 3 wickets, when he came in the second spell, Pokhara was close to victory. After he himself spent 15 runs in his third over, Pokhara needed 15 runs in the last 2 overs for victory.
In the 19th over, Harmeet Singh took the wickets of Ramon Reefer and Michael Lisk by spending only 7 runs. When Pokhara needed 8 runs for victory in the last over, Kuglen took the wickets of Kiran Thagunna and Bipin Khatri and Sudeep Aryal was run out.
Kuglen, a fast bowler from New Zealand, has taken 5 wickets with 18 runs in 3.4 overs. Harmeet spent 26 runs in 4 overs and took 3 wickets. Saif Zaib got 1 wicket.
With this win, Sudurpaschim has confirmed at least the playoff spot. Sudurpaschim is at the top with 10 points in 6 games. Due to strong run rate, Sudurpaschim is almost certain in Qualifiers 1 as well. Sudurpaschim will play the last match of the round robin league against Karnali Yaks on Monday.
photos: Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur
Opener Andries Gaus scored the highest 36 runs from Pokhara. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes while playing 21 balls. Reefer scored 33 with 2 fours and a six off 28 balls and Kiran Thagunna scored 32 runs off 28 balls with 3 fours and 1 six. Captain Kushal Bhurtel and Dilip Nath were out for 1 run.
Earlier Sudurpaschim lost the toss and was invited to bat. Sudurpaschim managed to give a challenging score to Pokhara after Arif Sheikh, who was completely unsuccessful in batting in the tournament, scored 42 unbeaten runs. Arif, who scored only 22 runs in the previous 5 matches of the tournament, hit 2 fours and 1 six in 38 balls.
Saif Zaib 9, Vinod Bhandari 14, Brandon McMullen 23 off 16 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes, Harmeet 13, Captain Dipendrasingh Airey got out with 20 runs off 16 balls with 1 six. Ishan Pandey retired after scoring 10 runs in 11 balls. Kuglen, who replaced him, could score only 2 runs in 3 balls. Naresh Budhaer played 3 balls and remained unbeaten in 6 runs. Kushal took 2 wickets for 27 in 4 overs. Reefer scored 24 runs in 4 overs, Lisk scored 27 runs in 4 overs and Sagar Dhakal took 1 wicket each with 29 runs in 4 overs. Sudeep Aryal, who came from
talent hunt, played his first match in the tournament but could not take any wicket after spending 19 runs in 2 overs. With his ball, Lisk managed to release Arif's catch.
Pokhara managed to win only 2 out of 7 games and finished seventh in the points table.
