Kathmandu, October 29
Janakpur Bolts registered their first victory in the third edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL), defeating Kathmandu Gorkhas by eight wickets at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.
Chasing a target of 116, Janakpur reached 119 for two in 17.2 overs.
Opening batter Moeen Ali led the chase with an unbeaten 58 off 51 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes. He shared an unbroken 79-run partnership for the third wicket with Saif Hassan to guide Janakpur to victory.
Hassan remained unbeaten on 40 off 39 balls.
Janakpur had lost opener Tritraj Das for five when the team score was seven. Mayan Yadav was dismissed for nine with the score at 37, leaving Moeen and Hassan to take control of the innings.
Ripon Mondal claimed one wicket for Kathmandu.
Earlier, Kathmandu were bowled out for 115 in 19.3 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.
Janakpur’s marquee player Rahul Yadav led the bowling attack, taking four wickets for 31 runs in his four overs. He dismissed both openers, Sam Heazlett and Smith Patel, as well as captain Karan KC and Mohammad Adil Alam.
Saif Hassan took two wickets, while Moeen Ali, captain Harmeet Singh and Lalit Rajbanshi claimed one each.
Bhim Sarki was Kathmandu’s top scorer with 33 off 29 balls, including four fours. However, Kathmandu struggled to build substantial partnerships and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Heazlett was dismissed for one with the score at six, followed by Harishankar Shah, who made nine, with the team on 19.
Rashid Khan scored 17, Patel made 13 and Sumit Maherjan contributed 10. Karan KC scored eight, Jahandad Khan made five and Ripon Mondal scored nine. Adil Alam was dismissed for a golden duck, while Shahab Alam remained unbeaten on four.
Janakpur had lost their opening match to Karnali Yaks by 19 runs.
In the second match of the day, Biratnagar Kings will face Karnali Yaks at 5 pm.
