Sudurpaschim Royals Beat Kathmandu Gorkhas by 29 Runs in NPL

Sudurpaschim Royals made a strong comeback in both batting and bowling to defeat Kathmandu Gorkhas and start the second season of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) with a win.

Kathmandu, who had beaten the defending champions Janakpur Bolts in their first match, lost their second game by 29 runs to last season’s runners-up Sudurpaschim. Hermit Singh played an important all-round role in Sudurpaschim’s victory.

Chasing a target of 147 runs, Kathmandu were all out for 118 in 16.5 overs. Opener Akash Tripathi scored the highest with 34 runs. Jon Simpson made 24, Bhim Sharki scored 12, and Milind Kumar added 11. The other players could not reach double-digit scores.

For Sudurpaschim, Scott Kuggeleijn, Hemant Dhami, and Hermit Singh took two wickets each. Ishan Pandey, Naren Saud, and Avinash Bohara took one wicket each.

Earlier, after losing the toss and batting first, Sudurpaschim were bowled out for 147. They had a poor start, losing three wickets for just four runs. They added 21 runs in the 16th over and 24 runs in the 17th over to rebuild the innings.

Captain Dipendra Singh and Hermit Singh played key innings. Hermit scored 53 runs off 20 balls, hitting 2 fours and 6 sixes.

For Kathmandu, Karan KC took the most wickets with four, while Sunny Patel, Milind Kumar, and Rashid Khan took two wickets each.