Kathmandu Gorkhas starts with amazing victory


In the second Nepal Premier League (NPL), Kathmandu Gorkhaz made a spectacular start by stunning the defending champions, Janakpur Bolts, with a 5-wicket victory.

Chasing a target of 131 runs, Kathmandu reached the score in 18 overs while losing 5 wickets. The openers, Akash Tripathi and Ben Charlesworth, gave Kathmandu a solid start by putting together 55 runs without losing any wickets in the first powerplay.

The duo shared a 70-run partnership for the first wicket, making Kathmandu’s chase appear comfortable. Janakpur bowlers had to wait until the 9th over to take their first wicket when Jan Nikhol dismissed Ben, who had scored an impressive 46 runs off 23 balls, including 5 fours and 2 sixes, narrowly missing a half-century by 4 runs.

Soon after, Akash Chand was out for 3 runs, bowled by Lalit Narayan Rajwanshi, at a team score of 75. The third wicket fell in the 16th over when Sanjay Krishnamurthy took Akash Chand’s wicket.

Following that, Milind Kumar was dismissed for 19 runs by Kishor Mahto when Kathmandu required 9 runs off 18 balls. On the very next ball, Anil Shah trapped John Simpson LBW after he had scored 13 runs.

In bowling, Lalit, Kishor, Anil, Jan Nikhol, and Sanjay each took a wicket.

Earlier, at the TU Cricket Ground, Kathmandu captain Karan KC won the toss and chose to bowl first. Janakpur, batting first, scored 130 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

In the first powerplay, Janakpur lost 2 wickets for just 40 runs. The opening pair, Ashif Sheikh and Lahiru Milantha, scored 32 runs in the first 3 overs. In the fourth over, Karan KC conceded only 1 run. Then, in the fifth over, Milind Kumar struck, taking 2 wickets.

Milind dismissed a batsman who had scored 7 runs on the third ball of the fifth over. Shortly after, captain Anil Shah faced the second ball without opening his account and was caught by Gerard Erasmus off Milind’s delivery. Milind also claimed the third wicket when Jan Nikhol Lofty was bowled for 2 runs. With 3 wickets down, Janakpur had managed just 42 runs, getting off to a poor start.

In the ninth over, Sanjay Krishnamurthy fell for 2 runs, dismissed by Santosh Yadav. Meanwhile, the opener Ashif Sheikh steadied the innings, scoring a half-century off 37 balls, hitting 6 fours and 1 six. Immediately after reaching his 50, Ashif was dismissed by Sahab Alam for 54 runs. At that point, Janakpur had lost 5 wickets for just 78 runs in 13 overs and 3 balls.

Lahiru Samarakoon contributed 23 runs before getting out, while Mayank Yadav remained unbeaten on 34 runs, and Adil Alam was not out on 8 runs.

In bowling, Milind Kumar was the standout performer, taking 3 wickets for just 15 runs in 4 overs. Karan KC, Sahab Alam, and Santosh Yadav each took a wicket.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sushila Karki inaugurated the NPL. This season, 8 franchise teams will compete over 27 days in a total of 32 matches, with the final scheduled for Mangsir 27.

The prize money remains substantial: the champion will receive NPR 1.1 crore, the runner-up NPR 51 lakh, and the third-place team NPR 15 lakh. Today’s match at the TU Cricket Ground was the first NPL game played under floodlights.








काठमाडौं गोर्खाजको विजयी सुरुवात

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