Sudurpaschim Royals Beat Kathmandu Gorkhas by 29 Runs

खेल्ल पड्यो ! लड्डु पडयो! जित्त पड्यो: Sudurpaschim Royals started their Nepal Premier League (NPL) journey with a strong win, beating Kathmandu Gorkhas by 29 runs at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Sudurpaschim Royals scored 147 runs, and then bowled out Kathmandu for only 118 runs in 16.5 overs.

Kathmandu Gorkhas could not chase the target properly. Only two players: Aakash Tripathi with 34 runs and John Simpson with 24 runs played well. The rest of the batsmen failed to score big, and the team kept losing wickets one after another.

Sudurpaschim bowlers did a great job. Harmit Singh took 2 wickets for just 21 runs in his 4 overs. He also played an important role with the bat earlier, hitting the only half-century of the match. Hemant Dhami and Scott Kuggeleijn also took 2 wickets each, putting pressure on Kathmandu throughout the innings.

In the first innings, Sudurpaschim Royals made 147 runs in 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Harmeet Singh played a fast and powerful knock of 53 runs from just 20 balls. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee added 39 runs from 30 balls. Aasif Sheikh scored 25 runs, while Ishan Pandey made 11 runs.

For Kathmandu, Karan KC bowled very well and took 4 wickets. Sunny Patel, Milind Kumar, and Rashid Khan also took 2 wickets each. Although their bowlers performed nicely, their batsmen could not complete the chase.

This win is the first victory for Sudurpaschim Royals in the tournament. Kathmandu Gorkhas, who won their first match against defending champions Janakpur Bolts, faced their first loss today.

Tomorrow, Chitwan Rhinos will play against Lumbini Lions at the same ground at 4:00 PM. It will be the first match for both teams in this eight-team NPL tournament.