Kathmandu: Karnali Yaks defeated Lumbini Lions by five runs in today’s first match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket tournament held at the TU Cricket Ground at Kirtipur.
Chasing a victory target of 129 runs posted by Karnali Yaks before this, Lumbini Lions were contained in 123 runs in the allotted 20 overs at the loss of seven wickets. Tom Moores top scored for Lumbini, making 36 runs including four fours and one six in 35 balls.
Similarly, Sundeep Jora scored 24 runs while Aashutosh Ghiraiya and Saad Bin Zafar each made 16 runs, Arjun Saud hit 13 runs and captain Rohit Kumar Paudel was out in 10 runs. Apart from these players, other Lumbini players could not make runs in the double digit.
Karnali Yak’s Zeeshan Maqsood took two wickets while Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Bipin Sharma and William Bosisto took one wicket each, in limiting the Lumbini Lions to 123 runs.
Karnali, which was invited to bat first after losing the toss before this, made a total 128 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing eight wickets. William Bosisto made the highest 44 runs for Karnali with the help of three fours and three sixes in 30 balls.
Similarly, Arjun Gharti hit 25 runs including two fours and one six in 25 balls. Opener Babar Hayat made 20 runs including one four and one six in 22 balls while another opener Dev Khanal was out in three runs. Chadwick Walton scored 13 runs while Gulshan Jha was out after making eight runs. Captain Sompal Kami hit seven runs.
Bikash Aagri who debuted for Lumbini took three wickets while Tilak Raj Bhandari took two wickets. Similarly, Saad Bin Zafar and captain Rohit Kumar Paudel took one wicket each.
With this, Lumbini is out from NPL while Karnali Yaks has strengthened its playoff chances.
Biratnagar Kings will take on Chitwan Rhinos in today’s second match.
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