After Vinod Bhandari scored a half-century, Sudurpaschim Royals defeated Janakpur Bolts by 8 wickets on Wednesday and reached the final of Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket.
After veteran opening batter Bhandari scored unbeaten 58 runs, Sudurpaschim completed the target of 140 runs in 18.3 overs in Qualifier 1 at Trivi Cricket Ground Kirtipur .
Sudurpaschim will play the final with the winner of Qualifiers-2 between Karnali Yaks and Janakpur on Thursday. The final will be held on Saturday.
Bhandari played 55 balls and scored 58 runs with 3 fours and 3 sixes. Bhandari, who added 56 runs in 8 overs with Saif Zaib for the first wicket, shared 59 runs with Brandon McMullen for the second wicket. Zaib scored 32 with 3 fours and 2 sixes from 21 balls and McMullen scored 23 runs with 1 four and six from 19 balls.
Photos : Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur
Captain Dipendrasingh Airey remained unbeaten on 21 runs off 16 balls with 1 four and 1 six. Kishore Mahato and Lalit Rajvanshi took 1 wicket each from Janakpur.
Earlier, Jimmy Nisham scored 45 runs in 23 balls, but Janakpur won the toss and chose to bat, losing 9 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs at the Trivi Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. Neesham again hit 3 fours and 3 sixes while playing an aggressive innings.
opener Lahiru Milantha scored 12 runs off 14 balls and was dismissed lbw by Dipendra . Regular captain Anil Sah is injured while leading Janakpur Marquee player Asif Sheikh could score only 11 runs with 2 fours from 10 balls.
Shubh Kansakar hit 4 fours off 24 balls and scored 26 runs. Harsh Thakar 12, Araniko Yadav 11, Mohammad Mohsin and Sher Malla 3 each and Kishore Mahato 2 runs out. Akash Tripathi remained unbeaten on 4 runs.
Dipendra took the most 3 wickets from Far West. He took 3 wickets by spending only 29 runs in 4 overs. Saif Zaib spent 20 runs in 3 overs and Scott Kuglen and Avinash Bohra took 1 wicket each.
