Kathmandu Knights made a winning start at Nepal T-20 League Cricket Tournament after they thrashed Pokhara Avengers by 26 runs in the inaugural match at T.U International Cricket Ground, Kathmandu on Saturday.
The inaugural match of the Nepal T-20 League between host Kathmandu Knights and visitor’s Pokhara Avengers was reduced to 19 overs due to the delay of toss. Pokhara failed to put up an impressive batting as they were dismissed for 137/7 in the 19 overs match. Opener Upul Tharanga scored the highest 44 runs for Pokhara. He scored 44 runs off 34 balls while Aarif Sheikh hit 20 runs off 20 balls and Ameer Hamza and Abhimanyu Mithu scored 18 runs each but other batters of Pokhara failed to reach double digit run mark.
Abhinash Bohara grabbed three wickets while Basir Ahmad claimed two wickets and Anil Kharel took one wicket for the winning side. Batting first, the top order batter took control of the inning as host Kathmandu scored 162 runs with loss of five wickets in allocated 19 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai guided host Kathmandu to make a winning start in the tournament. Omarzai scored the highest 85 runs for the winning side. He scored an unbeaten 85 runs off 42 balls that included three boundaries and seven sixes. Omarzai of Kathmandu was declared the Man of the Match for his remarkable batting against Pokhara.
Similarly, Sunam Gautam hit an unbeaten 27 runs off 28 balls while Alex Blake scored 21 runs off 22 balls and opener Virandeep Singh returned to pavilion in 10 runs off nine balls he faced. Earlier, Kathmandu made a poor start as opener Santosh Karki was out for three runs and skipper Gyanendra Malla returned to the pavillion without scoring. Pratish GC and Zahir Khan grabbed two wickets each while Mousom Dhakal claimed one wicket each for Pokhara.
Lumbini beat Far West
Lumbini All Stars made a winning start at Nepal T-20 League Cricket Tournament after beating Far West United by 67 runs in the second match of the day. Batting first, Lumbini scored 152 runs with the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.
Opener Lahiru Milantha scored the highest 60 runs for Lumbini. He scored 60 runs off 50 balls that included eight boundaries and a single six while skipper Dipendra Singh Airee delivered 35 runs off 38 balls and Gulshan Jha hit 25 runs off 10 balls. Similarly, Bipul Jha scored 12 runs off seven balls while other batters of Lumbini failed to reach double digit run mark for Lumbini.
Karan KC and Umair Ali each claimed three wickets for Far West United. All the bowlers of Lumbini contributed as they sent Far West packing for 85 runs in 16.2 overs in the allocated 20 overs match. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee was the main destroyer as he grabbed three wickets while Sagar Dhakal took two wickets and Bipul Sharma, Kishore Mahato and Pat Brown each claimed one wicket go provide Lumbini its winning start.
Far West made a poor start as its opener duo Dev Khanal and Harishankar Shah returned to the pavilion when the score was at single digit mark. Opener Shah was duck-out while his opening partner Khanal returned to pavilion making nine runs off nine balls he faced. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi hit the highest 35 runs off 44 balls while Binod Bhandari scored 13 runs off 11 balls as other batters of Far West failed miserbly.
The winner of the league will receive Rs. 5.5 million while the first runner-up will lift Rs. 3 million and the second runner-up will receive Rs 1 million. Similarly, the fourth place of the league will be satisfied with Rs. 0.5 million. Likewise, the Player of the Series will enjoy Rs. 0.5 million while Best Bowler and Best Batter of the league will get Rs. 250,000 each. However, The Emerging Player of the league will receive Rs. 180,000. Similarly, Man of the match of each match will bag Rs. 40,000 apiece.
Source : TRN,
