With the contributions of Anil's 61 and Sadakat's 63 runs, Janakpur easily achieved the target of 177 runs set by Chitwan, scoring 180 runs in 17.3 overs.
What you should know
Defending champions Janakpur Bolts registered their first win in Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket after Anil Sah and Maj Sadakat scored half-centuries. Janakpur defeated Chitwan Rhinos by six wickets on Tuesday.
Anil scored 61 off 36 balls and Sadakat scored 63 off 30 balls, helping Janakpur chase down the target of 177 by scoring 180 runs in 17.3 overs. After Asif Sheikh was dismissed for 18 runs with 3 fours off 18 balls, the two batsmen played openly and shared a partnership of 79 runs off 37 balls.
Player of the Match Anil hit 4 fours and 3 sixes off 36 balls and Sadakat hit 6 fours and 4 sixes off 30 balls. Yan Nicole Lofty Eaton was out for 11 runs. Aditya Mahata hit 2 fours and 1 six off 7 balls for 18 and Sanjay Krishnamurthy remained unbeaten on 5 runs.
Regular captain Anil had only managed to score 5 runs in the first 3 matches in Janakpur. Due to poor personal form and Janakpur's consecutive defeats, Anil was not included in the playing 11 in the previous match. Despite being recalled to the team against Chitwan, Wayne Parnell captained Janakpur.
Janakpur also made a big decision to keep Lalit Rajbanshi and Kishor Mahato out. Lalit had taken only 2 wickets and Kishor 1 wicket in this season's NPL. Anil and Sachin took their places.
Janakpur, who had lost their first four matches, have kept their slim hopes of reaching the playoffs alive after this win. Chitwan has won 2 out of 5 matches and lost 3 matches. Chitwan will play their final match on Thursday against Sudurpaschim Royals. Although Janakpur won the title last year, Chitwan defeated Janakpur by 34 runs in the group stage match.
Earlier, after David Malan and Arjun Saud shared a 112-run partnership for the first wicket, Chitwan, who had won the toss and elected to bat, scored 17600 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Even though Sadakat bowled the first over of the match as a maiden, Chitwan scored a huge score by adding 38 runs in the first play of 6 overs and 76 runs in 10 overs.
While making the fourth century partnership and the third highest partnership in NPL history, Malan and Arjun took full advantage of half a dozen catches left by the Janakpur fielders. Among them, Anil managed to drop a very easy catch for Malan's 35 runs off the ball of Sachin Bhatt, who was playing the first match. Malan scored 80 runs off 54 balls. He hit 4 fours and 5 sixes.
Lofty Eaton dismissed Arjun in the 14th over, giving Janakpur its first success. Arjun scored 52 runs off 39 balls, hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes. Saif Zaib was out for 7, Rabi Bopara for 3 runs. Captain Kushal Malla remained unbeaten on 30 off 14 balls, hitting 2 fours and a six. Janakpur's Anil, Rupesh Singh, Sadakat and Lofty Eaton took 1 wicket each.
