The history of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) is only two seasons old. Even in this short time, one team has proven itself to be truly excellent. That team is Sudurpaschim Royals. This team has made its way to the APL finals for the second consecutive time on Tuesday.

In the Qualifier-1 held at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Sudurpaschim defeated Biratnagar Kings unilaterally by 77 runs . 

Biratnagar was the same team that had tasted Sudurpaschim's only defeat in the league stage . In order to avenge that, Sudurpaschim achieved such a victory, which can be called unprecedented . Last season too, Sudurpaschim had won Qualifier-1 and reached the final . But in the title clash, they were defeated by Janakpur Bolts . Now, Sudurpaschim has an opportunity to forget the pain of that .

‘Of course, we don’t want to miss out again while being close to the title . Reaching the final means a lot to us,’ said Sudurpaschim’s New Zealand all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn, ‘The reason we won today is because we performed according to plan . Last season we lost in the final, that was unfortunate. That defeat will motivate us to win the title this time.’

Now there will be an eliminator on Wednesday. Kathmandu Gorkhaz and Lumbini Lions will face each other in that. The winner of this will face Biratnagar in Qualifier-2. The winner will face Sudurpaschim in the final. What that means is that Biratnagar has one more chance to reach the final. ‘Who will reach the final now is just a guess, but I think this team is Biratnagar,’ added Kuglien.

Biratnagar’s poor performance with the bat

If Kuglien’s prediction is to be proven right, Biratnagar will face a challenge as high as a mountain. Because their performance with the bat against Sudurpaschim was not only completely weak, it was pathetic. Chasing 156 runs for victory, Biratnagar lasted only 14.1 overs. In that period, only 78 runs were scored on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Biratnagar's wickets fell one after another like cards.

This series of wickets started from the first ball of the innings, when Sam Hazlett was caught by Deependra Singh Airee on a duck off the bowling of the same Kuggeleijn. Soon after, the experienced Martin Guptill was also run out after scoring just 2 runs. Then, in the next ball, Naren Bhatt was also out after facing just one ball from Harmeet Singh. The team had lost 3 wickets at a score of 3 runs.

‘Our start was bad, the batting did not work, the way the batting collapsed was the reason for the defeat,’ said Biratnagar’s technical director Dipendra Chaudhary, ‘After losing three wickets in seven balls, the team had no chance to recover.’ After Bashir Ahmed was also dismissed for 12 and Lokesh Bam was also dismissed for 5 runs, Biratnagar reached a weak position of 50 runs after losing 5 wickets.

Towards the end of the innings, Merchant de Lange scored 15 runs. The only player who performed slightly better with the bat for Biratnagar was opener Faf du Flessis. He scored 36 runs in 29 balls. After he was dismissed, Biratnagar’s defeat became a mere formality. ‘Now we will have another chance to enter the final, we will try to correct these weaknesses and play in it.’

Vinod's half-century performance

Among the bowlers of Sudurpaschim, Kugglin, Harmit and Abinash Bohra took 2 wickets each. The foundation for Sudurpaschim's victory was laid by opener Vinod Bhandari. Batting first, Sudurpaschim scored 155 runs for 7 wickets with the help of his 63 runs. Vinod, who was the undisputed 'player of the match', hit 3 fours and 2 sixes in 52 balls.