KATHMANDU, Feb 26: Dipendra Singh Airee-led CYC Attariya lifted the title of the third edition of Dhangadhi Premier League after a superb campaign with the team losing just one match in the tournament.

Attariya lost its third match against Mahendranagar United by seven wickets, but topped the group table with eight points from five games and also won both the Qualifier 1 and the final matches to lift its first trophy.

In two previous editions of the tournament, now defunct Team Chauraha Dhangadhi had lifted the titles, led by Paras Khadka in 2017 and Sompal Kami in 2018.

With the win, Airee has registered his name among the captains leading their teams to win Nepali franchise tournaments, along with Nepal national cricket team captain Khadka, Kami, Sharad Vesawakar and Gyanendra Malla.

Attariya finished at the last position in group stages in 2017, while it lost the Eliminator in the 2018 edition.

Here is a synopsis of this season of the DPL:

Sunny Patel’s batting brilliance 
Indian recruit Sunny Patel is a well-known name in the Nepali franchise tournaments. He played two consecutive years with Lalitpur Patriots in the Everest Premier League in 2017 and 2018, winning one of the titles in the latter season. He was also a member of the runner-up Kathmandu Goldens against Team Chauraha in last year’s DPL. 

To win the second franchise tournament in Nepal, Patel showed a brilliant batting performance throughout the tournament. He became the only player to reach the 200-run mark in this season’s DPL. 

Playing a total of six innings in seven matches for Attariya, Patel smashed 202 runs with an average of 67.33 facing a total of 135 balls. His highest score was an unbeaten 61 runs against Biratnagar Kings, with four sixes and five fours in just 31 balls. 

With a strike rate of 149.62, Patel scored total 13 sixes and 12 boundaries, with a 50, in the tournament. The 13 sixes were a remarkable feat by Patel, with his closest rival being Ankit Dabas of Kathmandu Goldens who scored eight sixes. 

Patel was adjudged the man of the series, the best batsman and the man of the final. 

All-round batting performance 
Attariya’s batting trio of Patel, another Indian batsman Jaykishan Kolsawala and captain Airee was a formidable combination in the title-winning campaign for the team. They batted brilliantly throughout the tournament with all the batsmen having a 50 each. 

The three batsmen scored a total of 529 runs for the team in the tournament. 

Besides Patel, Kolsawala and Airee batted really well to chase targets in the tournament. Airee topped the chart for highest scorer in a game with 67 runs off 50 balls including 10 fours -- the highest number of fours in a game -- and a six, against Rupandehi Challengers. Airee hit the highest number of fours in the tournament, 21. 

Kolsawala was just as brilliant, being unbeaten at 61 runs off 31 balls in the match against Biratnagar Kings. With the total of 159 runs, he finished third in the most runs chart with 18 fours and four sixes. 

Unmatched bowling stats 
If Attariya’s batting was good, the bowling was just as pleasing to watch. 
Bhuvan Karki, who was named the bowler of the tournament, was superb with his delivery. He picked up the joint-highest 14 wickets playing all seven matches and bowling 24.3 overs. 

His best bowling figure came against Dhangadhi Stars, as he took four wickets giving away 10 runs in four overs. He had an economy of 2.5 in that game. 

Overall, he gave away 130 runs with an economy of 5.30. 

Rupandehi Challengers’ Lalit Singh Bhandari took 14 wickets as well, having already gone out in the Eliminator losing to Mahendranagar United by one run. 

Kathmandu Goldens’walkover controversy 
Goldens boycotted the second qualifier match accusing the technical team of DPL of continuous ‘torture’ and ‘pressure’. 

“The decision made by the technical committee regarding Ankit Dabas’ bowling action was not made in our favor, hence we are boycotting DPL from this instant. We went to meet them officially but they had already announced the decision to the press and sent it to ICC. In that situation, we had no other option available,” said Sanjay Shrestha, the team manager of Goldens. 

“Dabas has been playing professional cricket in India. He was never accused of an illegal action. Why are our umpires and referees trying to torture and demoralize players in our country, and scare us with ICC rules and regulations?” 

He further accused the technical team of not applying rules impartially. “Last year, they had problem with our bowler, Rashid Khan, and this time they again stood against us. I don’t think ICC would approve such grounds (Fapla) for premier league tournaments but then we played here. ICC rules should be equal for all. We might not play the DPL next year as well,” he added. 

The head of the technical committee and umpire of elite ICC panel, Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan, said that Goldens was informed about the dubious action in previous matches but the team’s management failed to rectify it.

“We had already informed Goldens management in previous games about inaccuracies in Dabas’ actions but the management was not able to convey the message to the player. We have sufficient evidence of illegal action,” said Pradhan.

He further added that they reviewed Dabas’ action after every match. “At first, there was a problem in some of his deliveries but by the end of the last league stage match, almost every delivery was suspicious. Hence, we had to take this decision,” he said. 

Dabas was reported twice by the on-field umpires in two games for his suspected illegal bowling action.

After a video analysis, the tournament technical committee termed his bowling arm action illegal and decided not to allow him bowl. 

Mahendranagar United reached the final without playing the game following Goldens’ walkover.
 

 
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