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Kathmandu Gorkhas have become the second team to reach the playoffs in the second edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) underway in the capital. The Sudurpaschim Royals had reached the playoffs before this.

In today's match, Kathmandu defeated Pokhara Avengers by 13 runs to secure a place in the playoffs.

Pokhara, chasing the target of 166 runs set by Kathmandu, were all out for 152 runs in 20 overs. 

Rishi Dhawan of Pokhara hit a maximum of 54 runs but it was not enough to secure victory.

In bowling, Shahab Alam took six wickets including a hat-trick for Kathmandu.

Earlier, in the match held at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, having lost the toss, batted first and scored 165 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs. 

Ben Charlesworth and Bhim Sarki played a half-century innings for Kathmandu. Ben was out for 64 and Bhim for 55.

Dhananjay Lakshan took four wickets while captain Kushal Bhurtel took two wickets for Pokhara.

With this win, Kathmandu have reached the playoffs with 10 points while Pokhara have four points from six games. 

Pokhara now have one game remaining.

Nepal's preliminary team to play the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier has been announced.

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has announced the preliminary team of 26-member today.

The team includes Indu Barma, Rajmati Airee, Sita Rana Magar, Samjhana Khadka, Kabita Joshi, Riya Sharma, Somu Bista, Rachana Chaudhary, Rubi Podar, Poooja Mahato, Kabita Kunwar, Rubina Kshetry, Sana Prabin, Alisha Yadav, Iswori Bista, Roma Thapa, Soni Pakhrin, Bindu Rawal, Laxmi Saud, Manisha Upadhyay, Simana KC, Anu Kadayat, Kajol Shrestha, Kiran Kunwar, Asmina Karmacharya, and Mamata Chaudhary, CAN informed. 

The team will begin the closed door training session at Mulpani Cricket Ground from Friday onward. 

After the closed door training, the final team of Nepal will be announced.

A total of 10 countries will participate in the global qualifier to be held in Nepal from January 12 to February 1. 

Four top countries among them will be selected for the Women T20 World Cup to be held in England in June 2026. 

The Group 'A' of global Qualifier includes Ireland, Scotland, Thailand, the United States and Zimbabwe while Group 'B' has Nepal along with Bangladesh, Namibia, the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea.

An inspired Kylian Mbappe scored two fabulous goals to guide Real Madrid to a commanding 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, ending their three-game winless streak in LaLiga, Reuters reported. 

The win keeps Real in second place with 36 points from 15 matches, one behind leaders Barcelona.

Real started brightly, with Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon called into action within the opening minutes. Misjudgements by the home defense gifted chances to Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, only for Simon to deny both with exceptional saves. However, the hosts' resistance crumbled in the seventh minute, according to Reuters. 

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich benefitted from two own goals by hosts Union Berlin and survived intense second half pressure before earning a 3-2 victory on Wednesday to reach the German Cup quarter-finals, Reuters reported. 

With all five goals coming from set pieces, the Bavarians exacted revenge for their 2-2 draw at Union in the Bundesliga in November that ended their 16-game winning start to the season across all competitions.

"I was satisfied with our first half and we did a lot of things right. But the second half was a fight," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, according to Reuters.