By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Lumbini All Starts crushed Pokhara Avengers by 3 wickets to record a third consecutive win in an ongoing Nepal T20 League.
Pokhara Avengers’ Inning
Invited to bat first at TU Cricket Ground, Pokhara Avengers collected 133 runs in the scheduled 20 overs with one wicket in spare. Kushal Malla, who stepped in the crease as the fourth batsman, contributed 61 runs off 31 deliveries with 5 fours and sixers.
With Sri Lankan Wicketkeeper Batsman Upul Tharanga scoring 42 runs, no other batsmen scored in double figures. Ameer Hamza and Aasif Sheikh, who opened the innings, lost their wickets for 4 and 6 runs respectively.
While Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddhant Lohani, and Pratish GC left the crease following a duck out, Skipper Sharad Vesawkar and Aarif Sheikh contributed 5 and 2 runs. Anil Sah caught Both Sharad and Aarif’s shot off Gulsan Jhan’s delivery. Bipin Khatri remained not out for 9.
Lumbini’s bowler Shadley van Schalkwyk took 3 wickets. Moreover, Kishore Mahato and Gulsan Jha claimed 2 wickets each whereas Harmeet Singh and Sagar Dhakal booked a piece.
Lumbini All Stars’ Inning
It took Lumbini All Stars full 20 overs to chase the winning target of 134 runs. Shadley gave his all to win Lumbini the match. Lumbini required 8 runs from the last over to win the match.
Pratis GC, who bowled the thriller final over, bowled Anil Sah in the first ball. Kishore Mahato then stepped in. Pratish gave no runs in the next two deliveries. Kishore gave the strike to Shadley in the fourth ball. Shadley took 2 runs in the 5th and smashed a sixer in the last to win Lumbini the third match in a row.
Unmukt Chand, who opened the innings scored 22 runs off 34 deliveries with a four. Unmukt collected 2 runs each in the previous 2 months. Kushal Bhurtel, performed with his bat after a long as the batsman contributed the highest run for his side. Facing 28 deliveries, Kushal earned 39 runs with 4 fours and 2 sixers.
Furthermore, Lahiru Milantha (1), Harmeet Singh (1), Dipendra Singh Airee (2), Anil Sah (19), Gulsan Jha (10), Shadley van Schalkwyk* (31), and Kishore Mahato* contributed 1 run to the tally.
With Pokhara’s bowler Bipin Khatri and Kushal Malla claiming 2 wickets, Pratish GC, Abhimanyu Mithun, and Zahir Khan took a piece each.
