KATHMANDU, Dec 27: Babar Hayat’s third fifty of the tournament secured Biratnagar Warriors’ place in the final with an emphatic win by eight wickets. The Hong Kong captain scored 62 runs from 44 deliveries including four boundaries and five sixes to seal the win for Warriors in the first qualifier of EPL 2017.
The Warriors skipper Paras Khadka smashed four sixes in his route to unbeaten 42 runs from 24 deliveries to finish the match in 17 overs. Anshuman Rath remained not out adding another 26 runs to his total tally for the tournament.
Bhairahawa Gladiators were outplayed through the match as Puneet Mishra and Hari Shankar Shah could pick up a wicket each. The Gladiators skipper Vesawkar conceded 40 runs in his spell of 4 overs.
Gladiators will now face the winner of the eliminator in tomorrow’s qualifier two.
An 82 runs partnership between all-rounder Aarif Sheikh and Puneet Mishra rescued Bhairahawa to a respectable total of 127/8 in 20 overs. At one stage, Gladiators were struggling at 27/4 when Rohit Poudel was caught behind by Aasif Sheikh off Sahan Adeesha.
Aarif Sheikh piled up 46 runs continuing from where he left in the last match. He smashed one four and three sixes including one towering six over the midwicket area. Puneet Mishra, the left arm spin allrounder from India, missed his fifty but scored three fours and three sixes in the middle to power Gladiators total to 127 after being 32/4 at halfway stage.
Sahan Adeesha, the Sri Lankan recruit for Biratnagar Warriors, registered his best bowling figures for EPL as he picked up two wickets conceding 29 runs in his four overs. Karan KC delivered an effective last over of the innings which yielded two wickets for him. Warriors skipper Paras Khadka, Basant Regmi, and Avinash Karn also chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Biratnagar Warriors won the toss and elected to bowl first. The winner of this match will go to the finals whilst the loser of the match will play second qualifier match tomorrow. The winner of the Eliminator between Pokhara Rhinos and Lalitpur Rhinos will qualify for the second qualifier to face the loser of this match.
Match Summary
Bhairahawa Gladiators 127/8 (20 Ov)
Puneet Mishra 49 (34) 3 fours, 3 sixes
Aarif Sheikh 46 (35) 1 four, 3 sixes
Sahan Adeesha 4-0-29-2
Karan KC 4-0-36-2
Biratnagar Warriors (Toss) 131/2 (17 Ov)
Babar Hayat 62 (44) 4 fours, 5 sixes
Paras Khadka 42* (24) 2 fours, 4 sixes
Anshuman Rath 26 (32) 2 fours
Warriors won the match by eight wickets. Man of the Match Babar Hayat.
Gladiators to face Warriors in Qualifier 1
