Chitwan Rhinos sure of playoffs, Kathmandu Gurkhaz chances depend on Sudurpaschim and Karnali
After defeating Pokhara Avengers by 5 runs, Sudurpaschim Royals became the third team to reach the playoffs of Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket. Sudurpaschim is at the top with 10 points from 6 games that have reached at least the playoffs. Sudurpaschim is also a certainty in Qualifiers 1 due to strong run rate.
After Scott Kuglen took 5 wickets, Pokhara, who came with a target of 154 runs, were bowled out for 148 runs in 19.4 overs. Kuglen, who took 3 wickets in the first two overs, was close to victory when he came to the second spell. After he 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 for just 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. New Zealand's fast bowler Kuglen took 5 wickets for 18 runs in 3.4 overs with 1 maiden. Harmeet spent 26 runs in 4 overs and took 3 wickets.
opener Andries Gaus scored the highest 36 runs from Pokhara. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes in 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 was dismissed for nil and Dilip Nath for 1 run.
Sudurpaschim, who batted first, scored 153 runs after losing 7 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Arif, who could score only 22 runs in the previous 5 matches of the tournament, scored 42 runs by hitting 2 fours and 1 six off 38 balls.
Saif Zaib 9, Vinod Bhandari 14, Brandon McMullen 23, Harmeet 13, Captain Dipendrasingh Airy got out after scoring 20 runs. Ishan Pandey was retired after scoring 10 runs. Kuglen, who replaced him, could score only 2 runs in 3 balls. Naresh Budhaer played 3 balls and remained unbeaten for 6 runs. Kushal took 2 for 27 in 4 overs and Reefer, Lisk and Sagar Dhakal took 1 each.
Pokhara finished seventh in the points table with only 2 victories in 7 matches. On the other hand, Kathmandu's hopes are stuck in the match between Sudurpaschim and Karnali Yaks on Monday. Gurkhaz defeated Viratnagar Kings by 1 wicket.
Gurkhaz can only make it to the playoffs if Karnali loses by a big margin. Even though they have the same 8 points with Karnali, Gurkhaz is behind in net run rate. Gurkhaz's victory officially confirmed Chitwan Rhinos' place in the playoffs.
Kathmandu completed the target of 118 runs by scoring 120 runs in 18.1 overs after Dipesh Kandel hit a boundary in the decisive situation. The last pair of Deepesh and Shankar Rana put on an unbeaten partnership of 18 runs. At a time when the team needed 2 runs for victory, Dipesh hit a winning boundary off Subhas Bhandari. Dipesh hit 1 four and a six while scoring 11 unbeaten runs in 5 balls. Another unbeaten batsman Shankar scored 16 runs with 1 four off 20 balls.
Prateek Shrestha scored the highest 39 runs. He played 34 balls and hit 2 fours and 2 sixes. Stephan Eskinazi 1, Michael Levitt 10, Gerrard Erasmus 12, Bhim Sarki 1, Dan Douthwaite 1, Rashid Khan 14, Captain Karan Casey out for nil. Sandeep took 3 wickets with just 19 runs in 4 overs, Chris Soule took 2 wickets with 21 runs in 4 overs and Basir Ahmed took 2 wickets with 27 runs in 4 overs.
Biratnagar batting first was bowled out for 117 runs in 19.5 overs. Off-spinner Erasmus took 3 wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs. He bowled Scott Edwards and took the wickets of Chris Soule and Sandeep in the same over. Debrehate spinner Deepesh took 2 wickets with only 16 runs in 4 overs. Shahav Alam, Douthwaite and Karan took 1 wicket each.
Rajesh Pulami scored the highest 25 runs from Biratnagar. He played 21 balls and hit 1 four and a six. Lokesh Bam 8, Deepak Bohra 20 off 24 balls, Nicholas Kritan 10 off 12 balls, Edwards 14 off 15 balls, Basir Ahmed 13 off 13 balls, Ismatullah Alam 5, Sol 1, Lamichhane and Anil Kharel were all dismissed for zero. Subas Bhandari remained unbeaten on 6 runs.
