The two teams taking the field in the day's matches, Biratnagar and Sudurpaschim, have already won their first two matches and if the teams continue their winning streak, they will further strengthen their place in the playoffs.
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After a day's rest, two matches are being played in Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket on Monday, where Biratnagar Kings will face Janakpur Bolts and Sudurpaschim Royals will face Karnali Yaks.
After the points table, it is considered a 'high voltage' game. The two teams taking the field in the day's match, Biratnagar and Sudurpaschim, have won the first two matches and if the team continues its winning streak, it will further strengthen its place in the playoffs.
Biratnagar has defeated Pokhara Avengers and Kathmandu Gorkhaz in the first two matches. Janakpur, on the other hand, was shocked by Gorkhaz in the first match. Biratnagar has looked strong after the arrival of Scottish batter George Mansi, South African fast bowler Merchant de Lange and American all-rounder Shubham Ranjan.
Biratnagar, which was away from the playoffs last season, has shown its claim to the title from the first two matches. De Lange became the player of the match in defeating Gorkhaz on Saturday, taking 2 wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs, while Mansi scored 36 runs in 16 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The much-talked about South African Faf du Plessis, who was previously announced as the head coach of Biratnagar, is yet to come to Nepal.
Pubudu Dassanayake, who was announced as the head coach by the team, is also not seen in Biratnagar's 'dug out'. But Biratnagar has made a great start under the leadership of another Sri Lankan coach Dhammika Prasad. It is clear that Prasad has paid special attention to Nepali players. Opener Lokesh Bam showed a 'mature' game by scoring 72 runs in 48 balls against Pokhara in the first match, including 7 sixes.
Looking at the match with Gorkhaz, Janakpur seems to have 'missed' both star all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and coach Dassanayake. Nisham has gone to Pokhara after Janakpur did not get the quota of Test 'cap' players. Janakpur has brought in West Indies batting star Shivnarayan Chandrapal in place of Dassanayake. He is the biggest name to come to the NPL this time, but Chandrapal is yet to prove it with his training.
Most of the teams depend on foreign players. To lift Janakpur, Yan Nicole Lofty Eaton and Sanjay Krishnamurthy will have to play a big role in the batting. In addition, captain Anil Sah needs to play responsibly. Janakpur has not seen any quality bowlers except Kishor Mahato, Rupesh Singh and Lalit Rajbanshi.
Sudurpaschim has performed at a high level under the captaincy of Dipendra Singh Airi, especially in the match against Gorkhaz, when the team scored 147 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 4 overs and won the match from a position of 3 runs. Sudurpaschim continued its high performance from last season by winning the match by 18 runs against Karnali Yaks in the second match.
The performances of Dipendra, along with experienced Vinod Bhandari, Hemant Dhami, Josh Brown, Chris Lynn, Harmeet Singh and Scott Kugglen in the first two matches have strengthened Sudurpaschim. If Arif Sheikh and Ishan Pandey find a rhythm in the middle-order batting, it may be difficult for other teams to defeat Sudurpaschim.
Karnali was shocked by Chitwan Rhinos in the first match. After Indian Priyank Panchal scored 90 runs in 48 balls, Karnali scored 166 runs in the first match, but Chitwan achieved the target with 5 balls to spare. Since then, Karnali has made a great comeback. The team defeated Lumbini Lions by 9 wickets in the previous match with Mark Watt's century. After Watt scored an unbeaten 114 runs in 44 balls, Karnali achieved the target of 157 runs within 13 overs.
Chitwan, which looked strong, was defeated by Lumbini in the previous match. Kathmandu, which had won its first match, has since lost two matches. Lumbini is also in a position of 1 win and 1 loss in 2 matches. Pokhara has lost both the first matches. If Biratnagar and Sudurpaschim win Monday's matches, the play-off spots will be open for the other 6 teams.
