Sudurpaschim Royals have become the first team to reach the playoffs of the Nepal Premier League (NPL). Sudurpaschim defeated defending champions Janakpur Bolts by six wickets in the second match on Saturday.

After Ishan Pandey and Binod Bhandari played a restrained innings, Sudurpaschim achieved the target of 146 runs with 14 balls to spare at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. 

Sudurpaschim was defeated in the final along with Janakpur last year. However, this time, Sudurpaschim, who had a strong claim to the title, won the first five matches and secured a place in the playoffs and moved closer to Qualifier 1. On the other hand, after losing the first four matches, Janakpur is almost certain to be eliminated.

Ishan scored 56 runs in 35 balls and Binod scored 42 runs in 49 balls. Ishan hit 8 fours and 1 six and Binod hit 3 fours and 1 six. With opener Josh Brown out on the first ball of the match and Chris Lynn out for 1 run, Ishan and Binod played a partnership of 91 runs in 75 balls. Captain Deependra Singh Airi scored 10 runs in 7 balls and Harmit Singh scored 25 runs in 10 balls to lead Sudurpaschim to victory. Harmit hit 1 four and 3 sixes. Janakpur's Maj Sadakat took 2, Sanjay Krishnamurthy and Aditya Mahata took 1 wicket each. 

Earlier, Janakpur, inspired by American batter Krishnamurthy's half-century, had scored 145 runs for 8 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Janakpur managed to reach this score by adding 78 runs in the last 8 overs. Krishnamurthy, who pulled Janakpur's innings at 67-4 within 12 overs, scored 50 runs in 38 balls. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes. Krishnamurthy hit 20 runs with 2 sixes and 1 four in the 15th over bowled by Dipendra. He added 55 runs for the fifth wicket with Aditya Mahata. Aditya scored 15 runs with 2 fours in 13 balls. 

Avinash Bohra got Sudurpaschim back in the game by dismissing Krishnamurthy and Shubha Kanshakar in consecutive balls in the 18th over. Avinash gave away only 2 runs in that over. South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell was out for 14 runs in 12 balls. Rupesh Singh remained unbeaten on 1 run. Avinash took 4 wickets from Sudurpaschim. He spent 30 runs in 4 overs. Another fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn took 3 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs and Dipendra took 1 wicket for 30 runs in 3 overs. 

Janakpur did not start well. Kuggeleijn bowled Asif Sheikh in the first over of the match. He dismissed Mayan Yadav LBW for 6 runs. Opener Maz Sadakat was bowled by Dipendra for 12 runs in 9 balls, including 2 fours. Ian Nicole Lofty Eaton scored 39 runs in 33 balls. He hit 2 fours and a six. 

First foreign captain in NPL

Former South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell has become the first foreign player to captain the NPL. He was included in the Janakpur squad only in the previous match. He scored an unbeaten half-century in the match against Pokhara. Once the main hope of South Africa's fast bowling, he did not bowl against Sudurpaschim.

Janakpur had lost the first 3 matches, and due to the poor form of regular captain Anil Sah, Janakpur had made the 'bold' decision to give Parnell the captaincy. However, even with Parnell's arrival, Janakpur's losing streak did not stop. The team is almost certain to be out of the playoff race.

Anil is not even in Janakpur's playing team. Aditya played in his place. Last year, Janakpur defeated Sudurpaschim and won the title. Janakpur's performance was very poor this season. The team had left last season's hero Lahiru Milantha out of the playing team in the previous match. Asif Sheikh is Janakpur's wicketkeeper/batter marquee player. However, Janakpur has not given him a leadership role this time. Last season, when Anil was injured for most of the season, Janakpur lifted the title under Asif's captaincy. 

Lumbini's hopes remain intact

Kathmandu – Lumbini Lions kept their hopes of reaching the playoffs alive with a thrilling 3-wicket win over Pokhara Avengers after Sandeep Jora hit 10 runs in the last over.

Lumbini, who were set a target of 151 runs, needed 10 runs in the last over to win. Jora, who scored 2 runs in the first ball, then hit fours in the second and fourth balls to give Lumbini a thrilling victory. Jora, who could only score 6 runs in the first 13 balls, scored an unbeaten 25 runs in 22 balls, including 2 fours and 1 six, and Lumbini achieved the target with 2 balls to spare. This is Lumbini's second win in 5 matches. Lumbini, who won the first match, was under immense pressure after losing 3 matches in a row. This is Pokhara's third defeat in 4 matches. 

Lumbini did not start well. Openers Sumit Maharjan and D'RC Short were out for 7 runs. The arrival of Niroshan Dickwella, who had played for Sri Lanka, boosted Lumbini's middle order. He scored 37 runs in 22 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. Dilip Nath was out for 10 runs.

Captain Rohit Poudel scored the highest with 40 runs. He was named Player of the Match for hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes in 36 balls. Gulbadin Naib scored 17 runs in 11 balls with 2 sixes and Ruben Trumpelman scored 9 runs in 6 balls with a six. Pokhara's Bipin Khatri scored 18 runs in 4 overs, Matt Taylor in 3.4 overs and Sagar Dhakal took 2-2 wickets for 24 runs each in 3 overs, while Jimmy Neesham took 1 wicket.

Earlier, Pokhara scored 150 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets with the help of Adam Rossington and Neesham. After scoring 33 runs in 8 overs for the loss of 4 wickets, Rossington and Nisham shared a partnership of 92 runs in 62 balls for the fifth wicket. That is why Pokhara added 76 runs in the last 5 overs. 

Rossington scored 81 runs in 63 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes. Tilakraj Bhandari dismissed him in the 19th over. Nisham remained unbeaten on 51 runs. He hit 3-3 fours and a six in 32 balls. Kiran Thagunna remained unbeaten on 1 run. Opener Dinesh Kharel was out for 7 runs. Captain Kushal Bhurtel was ducked in the second consecutive ball. Sumit Verma was also out for a duck in 5 balls. Tritaraj Das could only add 1 run. From Lumbini, Sher Malla took 23 in 4 overs and Tilak took 2-2 for 25 runs in 4 overs and Naib took 1 wicket for 20 runs in 4 overs.