Janakpur Bolts beat Sudurpaschim Royals, clinch NPL title

Janakpur Bolts defeated Sudurpaschim Royals by five wickets to clinch the title of first season of Nepal Premier League.

Chasing the target of 185 runs posted by Sudurpaschim Royals in the match held at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Saturday, Janakpur Bolts achieved the target in 19.2 overs losing five wickets.

Lahiru Milantha scored highest 87 runs for Janakpur, hitting nine fours and four sixes in 49 balls. With this, Milantha has become the highest run scorer in the tournament. He made 293 runs in 10 innings with two half centuries.

Janakpur scored 71 runs without the loss of any wicket in the powerplay.

Opener Aasif Sheikh contributed 33 runs off 19 balls with four fours and two sixes. Harsh Thaker scored 30 off 24 balls.

Winning the toss, opener Saif Zaib scored 69 runs off 43 balls, featuring eight fours and two sixes in 43 balls.

Another opener, Binod Bhandari added 41 runs off 31 balls. Similarly, Brandon McMullen and Harmanpreet Singh made 14 runs each and Scott Kuggeleijn scored 13 runs while other batters failed to score in double digits.

Mohammad Mohsin and Kishore Mahato took three wickets each for Janakpur. Likewise, James Neesham and Lalit Rajbansi claimed one wicket each.

Earlier, Janakpur had lost to Sudurpaschim by 72 runs in the league stage and by eight wickets in the first qualifier.