Man-of-the-match Dipendra scored 67 off 50 balls and partnered 100 runs with captain Paras Khadka to help Kathmandu reach 157/7 in 20 overs. Birgunj, in reply, could manage only 114/7.
Winning the toss, Kathmandu elected to bat. But its openers, Paresh Lohani (5) and Sanjay Shrestha (12), got dismissed early, leaving Kathmandu struggling at 17/2 in the fourth over. Dipendra and Paras then took charge, scoring freely, and averaging nine runs per over for the next 11 overs.
Dipendra hit five fours and three sixes, while Paras scored 46 runs off only 33 balls, with two fours and three sixes.
Suraj Timilsina broke the partnership when Paras edged to Hasim Ansari. Sarad Vesawkar (3) and Raju Basnet (3) could not stay long, but Dipendra continued scoring and ended up taking the team to a formidable total. He was ultimately scalped in the 19th over by left-arm seamer Avinash Karn, who had the best bowling figures, with 2/28.
Rom Shrestha (4 not out) and Manoj Sood (7 not out) completed the overs for Kathmandu and lifted the total to 157/7.
Birgunj captain Binod Das promoted himself to an opener to give his team hopes, but he did not fare well and he was bowled out by Rom, after scoring 12 off 10 balls, with two fours.
His dismissal was followed by wickets falling at regular intervals. Anil Manal (8), Hasim Ansari (20), Hari Shankar Shah (13) and Shiva Tandukar (30) all got to start, but they could not come up with the required knock to take Birgunj to victory.
Rom, Pramod Basnet and Raju all grabbed two wickets each and Abhaya Rana claimed a wicket to restrict Birgunj to 114/7 and register a 43-run victory for Kathmandu.
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