KATHMANDU, Aug 5: Nepal's all-rounder Sagar Pun, who was roped in by the Malaysian Premier League (MPL) outfit Kuala Lumpur in July, has scored his maiden century in the league in a match against Selangor on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur. Opening the batting, Pun scored 109 runs that included 12 fours and two sixes.
Kuala Lumpur is unbeaten in the league with seven wins in seven matches. The 25-year-old faced 129 deliveries leading his team to a total of 281 runs in 50 overs. He shared an opening partnership of 85 runs for the first wicket with Saifullah Malik (39) and 146 runs with skipper Ahmed Faiz for the second wicket before losing his wicket. Faiz went on to make 74 runs from 80 deliveries including seven fours and two sixes.
In reply, the Selangor outfit was bundled out for 77 runs. Malaysian cricketer Pavandeep Singh registered a five-wicket haul for Kuala Lumpur, whilst Pun chipped in with two wickets. The right-arm off-spinner bowled seven overs conceding 25 runs in his spell including three maidens. The capital-city won the match by whopping 204 runs.
Sagar Pun ton helps Kuala Lumpur reach MPL final
Sagar Pun was adjudged man-of-the-match for his all-round contribution in the dominating win.
Nepal's U-19 batsman Aasif Sheikh also featured in the match keeping wickets for his team. He batted at the middle order staying not out on 14 runs from 10 deliveries. He also took a catch helping Pavandeep on his way to five-wicket-haul.
Pun is leading the runs-table in the MPL with 320 runs in seven matches. He has a century and a half-century to his name. He scored a half-century against Penang in the first match of the league.
He also has 8 wickets in the league with the best bowling figures of 4 wickets for 29 runs with an economy rate of 3.23. Similarly, Sheikh has 166 runs in seven matches with the high score of 44 runs.
The Malaysian Premier League is played between five teams in a double round-robin format. All the matches are played in a 50-over format. Penang, Selangor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Malaysian Armed Forces are the other four teams participating in the five-team event played at the cricket grounds of Kuala Lumpur, Bangi and Penang.
Kuala Lumpur will play its final league match on Sunday against Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The finals are slotted for the next weekend with semis on August 10 and 11, and final match of the league on August 12.
