KASKI, Dec 20: Butwal Blasters beat Pokhara Paltan by eight wickets in a match under the second edition of the Namaste Pokhara Premier League T20 cricket tournament underway at Pokhara Stadium in Pokhara.
Invited to bat first after losing the toss, Pokhara Paltan made the total 121 runs losing five wickets. Chasing down the victory target of 122 runs, Butwal Blasters achieved it in 14 overs at the loss of two wickets. This defeat of Pokhara Paltan has made it difficult to reach another round as it has lost three matches earlier out of four. Its journey forward in the tournament depends upon scores of its competitors even if it wins a next match.
Butwal Blasters set 151 runs target for Pokhara Paltan
With this win, Butwal Blasters has got four points. Butwal Blasters made a strong beginning with an 87-run partnership between openers Aftabbuddhin Ahamad and Shankar Rana. Before being caught from a ball by Rasid Khan, Ahamad hit 75 runs with two sixes and 12 fours. He was declared the man of the match for the match.
For Pokhara Paltan, the match proved costlier from the beginning as opener Kushal Bhurtel was out lbw for a duck by Lalit Bhandari. But other batsmen's contribution was not enough for the team to regain its strength. For it, Rabindar Singh remained unbeaten on 45 off 42 including two sixes and two boundaries, and Rohit Poudel hit 19 from 18 with one six and one four.
Likewise, Prathamesh Dhake remained unbeaten on 20 off 20 with one six and one boundary. For Butwal Blasters, Harsha Tanka took two wickets conceding 10 runs in four overs. Similarly, Shivam Singh, Lalit Singh Bhandari and Nitesh Thapa claimed one wicket each.
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