NPL: Sudur Paschim Royals secures second win

Kathmandu, Dec 5: The Sudur Paschim Royals (SPR) won today’s second match held under the Nepal Premier League (NPL) underway at the Tribhuvan University (TU) Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.

Chasing down the 168-run target posted by the SPR, the Kathmandu Gurkhas (KAG) was all out with 94 runs in 15.5 overs. KAG’s Stephen Eskinazi scored the highest 37 for the team with one six and five boundaries in 33 balls. Sumit Maharjan made 14 while Bhim Sarki, Gerhard Erasmus made 10 runs each and Pratik Shrestha scored eight.

Michael Levitt made five, Shankar Rana three, Rashid Khan two and captain Karan KC, Nathan Sowter, and Shahab Alam made one run each. The team was given two extra runs. For the SPR , Naren Saud took the highest five wickets followed by two from Abinash Bohora and one each from Brandon McMullen and Saif Zaib. With this, the SPR registered its second win in the NPL. Earlier, it had defeated the Biratnagar Kings by 90 runs.

Sent into batting first after losing the toss, Sudurpaschim scored 167 runs in the allotted 20 overs at the loss of six wickets. Brandon McMullen hit half century for Sudurpaschim. He scored the highest 54 runs with the help of four sixes and three boundaries off 36 balls. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee scored 42 runs including two sixes and three fours in 25 balls. Similarly, Binod Bhandari made 35 runs, Saif Zaib 11 runs, Rohan Mustafa four runs and Aarif Sheikh three runs.

Scott Kuggeleijn contributed seven runs, not out, while Ishan Pandey made one run. Sudurpaschim got extra 10 runs in this game. For Kathmandu, Rashid Khan claimed highest two wickets. Gerhard Erasmus, Shahab Alamm and Captain Karan KC took one wicket each. This is the second defeat faced by Kathmandu Gurkhas in the NPL so far. It had won one match out of three before this.