DHANGADHI, April 12: An impressive bowling from Shahab Alam guided Rupandehi Challengers to their second straight victory in the ongoing Dhangadhi Premier League T20 Cricket Tournament on Wednesday as the Shakti Gauchan-led team defeated CYC Attariya by 42 runs. In another match of the day, Kathmandu Goldens overcame the challenge of Biratnagar Kings by 86 runs to earn its first win in the tournament.
In the first clash of the day held at SSP Cricket Ground, Dhangadhi, Shahab sent CYC's four batsmen including skipper Gyanendra Malla, Yogendra Karki, Mahaboob Alam and Sashi Kesari to the pavilion and helped his team to limit the Attariya-based outfit for just 87 runs.
CYC, which was chasing a target of 130 runs, made a disastrous start to its innings as it lost opener Sandeep Sunar for two runs while Dilip Nath was out for a duck. Skipper Malla made 30 runs smashing four sixes facing 26 balls in an attempt to help his team recover in the match but losing other middle-order batsmen cheaply didn't help. Mahaboob was ducked while Yogendra who came to bat at number five couldn't contribute more than one run.
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Rupandehi Challengers' Bikram Sob took two wickets while captain Shakti Gauchan, Krishna Karki and Puspa Thapa claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, Rajesh Pulami made highest 31 runs for Rupandehi Challengers which had decided to bat first after winning the toss and made 129 runs. Rajesh also built a 61-run partnership with Prakash KC for the sixth wicket. The wining side made a poor start to their innings as opener Harishankar Shah and Shankar Rana built a partnership of just one run. However, 31 runs from Rajesh Pulami Magar and 29 from Prakash KC saw Rupandehi Challengers make a respectable total. CYC's Binod Lama and Pradeep Airee claimed two wickets each while Mahaboob and Avinash Bohora took one wicket each.
Meanwhile in the second match of the day, Basant Regmi-led Kathmandu Goldens chose to bat first after winning the toss and made 173 runs for five wickets in 20 overs. Openers Naresh Budayair and Subendhu Pandey gave a positive start to their innings making 13 and 27 runs respectively. Skipper Regmi, who came to bat at number three, stroked 30 runs smashing two boundaries and two sixes each and also built a 39-run partnership with Subendhu for the second wicket. Player-of-the-match Sumit Maharjan contributed highest 44 runs off 27 balls as he hit two boundaries and four sixes and built the highest partnership of 90 runs with Sompal Kami for the fourth wicket. Biratnagar Kings' skipper Sharad Vesawkar claimed two wickets while Sushil Kandel and Sandeep Lamichhane each sent one batsman to the pavilion.
In reply, Biratnagar Kings were packed for 87 runs in 18.5 overs. Biratnagar Kings made a terrible start to their innings, losing openers Amit Shrestha and Aasif Sheikh for three and two runs respectively. Dipendra Singh Airee, who came to bat at the fourth number, tried to consolidate the innings as he made 31 runs smashing three boundaries and one six facing 24 balls. He built a 22-run partnership with Rakesh Karna for the third wicket. Skipper Vesawkar stroked 13 runs off 16 balls while Jitendra Mukhiya contributed 11 runs.
Santosh Bhatta, who was the pick of Kathmandu Goldens' bowling, took three wickets giving away 22 runs. Bhuvan Karki and captain Regmi claimed two wickets each while Sompal Kami and Manjeet Shrestha added one each.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Dhangadhi-based team Chauraha led by national team skipper Paras Khadka will take on Binod Bhandari's Kanchanpur Iconic. Similarly, the second match of the day will see the battle between Biratnagar Kings and CYC Attariya.
