Title favourites Royals go down by 5 wickets
KATHMANDU, Dec 21: Janakpur Bolts clinched the title of the inaugural Nepal Premier League (NPL) with a thrilling five-wicket victory over Sudurpaschim Royals, thanks to a stellar batting display by opener Lahiru Milantha.
Milantha was adjudged the player of the match of the final for his swashbuckling 87 off just 49 balls and he bagged Rs 50,000 in cash prize.
The victory marks a historic moment for Janakpur Bolts, as they become the first champions of the Nepal Premier League. By lifting the coveted NPL trophy, Bolts walked away with Rs 11.1 million in cash prize, while Royals, heavily favored to win the title before the start of the final, had to satisfy themselves with the runner-up position and a cash prize of Rs 5.1 million.
In the final match held at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Bolts avenged their earlier defeats in the league stage and the first qualifier against Royals with a comprehensive performance. In the league stage, the Royals had defeated them by eight wickets and then by 51 runs in the first qualifier. They, however, denied a hat trick to their archrivals by achieving the defeats for the famous victory in the packed Kirtipur ground.
Chasing a formidable target of 185 runs set by the Royals, Bolts reached the mark in 19.2 overs, losing just five wickets.
Janakpur Bolts clinch NPL title with thrilling chase of 185 aga...
Milantha was the star of the show, scoring a magnificent 87 off 49 balls, including 9 fours and 4 sixes. Captain and fellow opener Asif Sheikh provided a strong start with a quickfire 33 off 19 balls, featuring 4 fours and 2 sixes. Middle-order batsman Harsh Thaker also contributed a valuable 30 runs. However, the rest of the batting lineup failed to reach the double-digit mark.
For the Royals, Dipendra Singh Airee, Saif Zaib, Scott Kuggeleijn, and Ishan Pandey each took one wicket.
Bolts, coached by former Nepali cricket team coach Pubudu Dassanayake, began their innings with a blistering start, scoring 71 runs in the powerplay (first six overs) without losing a wicket. The breakthrough came in the seventh over when Asif Sheikh was caught by Brendan McMullen at long-off. This marked Sheikh’s third consecutive dismissal against the Royals, having been bowled by Saif Zaib in both the league stage and the first qualifier.
Following Sheikh’s departure, Mohammad Mohsin joined Milantha at the crease, contributing 9 runs to a 32-run partnership before being bowled by Ishan Pandey on the last ball of the 10th over. Thakar then took charge alongside Milantha, forging a crucial 61-run partnership for the third wicket, bringing the team within touching distance of victory.
Milantha’s sensational innings ended on the third ball of the 16th over when he was caught by Scott Kuggeleijn. At that stage, Janakpur required just 19 runs to seal the win. James Neesham, who replaced Milantha, managed only 4 runs before being bowled by captain Airee. Akash Tripathi was run out for 2 runs in the penultimate over, leaving the Bolts three runs shy of victory.
With the tension mounting, Zaib bowled a superb 19th over without conceding any runs, dragging the game into the final over. However, the Bolts held their nerves, scoring the required three runs to clinch the title in style.
Earlier, a brilliant century partnership between openers Binod Bhandari and Saif Zaib guided the Royals to set a competitive target of 185 runs for the Bolts.
After winning the toss, the Royals chose to bat first and scored 184/9 in their allotted 20 overs. The duo of Bhandari and Zaib built a solid foundation with an impressive opening partnership of 117 runs. Zaib particularly shone with his swift innings of 69 runs off 43 balls, featuring eight fours and two sixes. Bhandari supported him effectively with a score of 41 runs from 31 balls, including one four and three sixes.
Once the openers were dismissed, the middle order found it challenging to maintain the tempo. McMullen and Harmeet Singh contributed modestly with 14 runs each, while Scott Kuggeleijn added another 13. Unfortunately, other batsmen failed to reach double digits, resulting in a slight downturn towards the end of their innings.
Bolts’ bowlers put forth a strong effort to restrict Sudurpaschim’s scoring. Spinner Mohammad Mohsin and pacer Kishore Mahato stood out by taking three wickets each; Mohsin gave away 40 runs in four overs while Mahato boasted figures of 3/25 across three overs. Fast bowler Neesham had a rough outing as he conceded 44 runs for just one wicket. Spinner Lalit Rajbanshi was economical as well, allowing only 15 runs while securing the vital wicket of Bhandari. His performance made him the tournament’s top wicket-taker with a total of 17 wickets, just ahead of Kuggeleijn's tally of 16.
Royals launched their innings aggressively by scoring 48 runs during the powerplay and reached triple figures in just over 10 overs without losing any wickets. However, once Zaib was dismissed in the twelfth over after being caught at long-on off Mahato, it triggered a series of quick wickets for the Royals. On that same delivery's next ball, Bhandari was bowled by Rajbanshi.
The downfall continued as Harmeet Singh Dhami was caught by Hemant Dhami square leg in the fifteenth over, followed by McMullen's dismissal by Neesham shortly after. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee, alongside Arif Sheikh, were also dismissed quickly during the nineteenth over—both claimed by Mohsin.
During the last over, Royals lost their final three wickets—Kuggeleijn was bowled on the very first ball by Mahato, followed swiftly by Naresh Budhayer, who was caught long-on by Sher Malla. The innings came to an end when Ishan Pandey was run out through wicketkeeper Lahiru Milantha’s sharp throw for Mohsin.
