Dipendra Airee heroics power Blues to an emphatic win

POKHARA, Nov 3: Hulas Kathmandu Royals completed a thumping win over Butwal Blasters to secure its place in the top three of the Pokhara Premier League (PPL) standings at the Rangshaala Cricket Ground in Pokhara on Friday. Royals posted 172 runs on board batting first and restricted Blasters for 135 runs in 20 overs to win its third match in four matches in the ongoing PPL.

Royals has secured its place in the top three of the PPL giving itself a chance to progress further in the tournament. It can secure its place by either qualifying for the final as the group topper or playing eliminator playoff by finishing second or third depending on its result versus Pokhara Paltan in Saturday. 

Meanwhile, Blasters made blistering start to the tournament winning first two matches against strong looking Chitwan Rhinos and Paltan setups. However, it lost next three matches including that on Friday against Royals to get almost knocked out from the tournament. Blasters’ fate depends on matches between Royals-Paltan and Rhinos-Biratnagar Titans on Saturday. If both Royals and Titans win its respective matches, Blasters might qualify for the eliminator with a positive net run rate of 0.34 as four teams Blasters, Rhinos, Titans and Paltan will tie on four points each.

Chasing the target of 173 runs, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) captain Rohan Mustafa smashed three back to back sixes against Susan Bhari in the powerplay. Blasters was in hunt until Mustafa was batting but was sent back by veteran left arm spinner Basanta Regmi who dismissed him LBW. The left-handed batsman scored 61 runs smashing five boundaries and four sixes during his 51-ball stay. Regmi picked another crucial wicket of Chirag Suri, the UAE vice-captain, as Blasters lost its way in the midst of chase.

Royals pacers put up a confident show as U-19 bowler Nandan Yadav and Amar Singh Routela picked up one and two wickets respectively. Routela conceded 23 runs from his full quota of four overs whereas Nandan bowled miserly to concede 15 runs. Indian bowler Gaurav Tomar was another wicket-taker for Royals in the match.

Earlier, Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. Batsman Naresh Budhayer capitalized on the early life given by Blasters as skipper Sompal Kami dropped his catch at long on. Budhayer went on to complete his first and fastest fifty of franchise T20 cricket off 28 deliveries. He smashed unbeaten 58 runs including three boundaries and five sixes. Royals collected more than 100 runs in last eight overs as skipper Gyanendra Malla boosted the score in the end overs with a cameo of 25 runs from 13 deliveries. Blasters’ Bipin Khatri picked two wickets whereas Samsad Sheikh and Mustafa chipped in a wicket each.

Royals will face Paltan in its final match of the group stage on Saturday. Similarly, Chitwan Rhinos will face Biratnagar Titans in a bid to qualify for the playoffs.

Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee played a lone-hand as his innings of unbeaten 49 runs from 26 deliveries powered Expert Dhangadhi Blues to an unprecedented win against Pokhara Paltan in the ongoing Pokhara Premier League (PPL) on the same day. 

Player-of-the-match Airee smashed four boundaries and four sixes in a heroic attempt to take Blues across the line to keep the playoffs chances alive in the league with three wins from five matches.

Somerset player Peter Trego scored his second half-century of the PPL as Blues looked all set to chase the target of 145 runs after being at 84 runs for the loss of two wickets during a stage in the 11th over of the innings. However, Paltan came back in the match picking up six wickets for the next 27 runs. Airee was in the crease with Robeen Chhetri at the other end. Airee, then, executed an array of shots all around the ground completing the chase in the final over of the match against veteran bowlers like the UAE’s Mohammad Naveed and Mehboob Alam.

Trego scored 53 runs from 34 deliveries with five boundaries and four sixes. Fast bowler Rashid Khan picked four wickets as spinners Lalit Rajbanshi and Bikram Bhusal shared two wickets each but were not able to contend against Dhangadhi Blues.

Earlier, Kamal Singh Airee registered his first four wicket haul of PPL to restrict Paltan to 144 runs on the 20 overs. Similarly, Peter Trego picked up a wicket conceding 11 runs from his four overs. Rohit Kumar Paudel was the top scorer for Paltan with 31 runs from 21 deliveries.

Blues has completed its league matches whereas Paltan will face Kathmandu Royals on Saturday in a bid to qualify for the playoffs.
 

 
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