Sudurpaschimim Royals has defeated defending champion Janakpur Bolts by 6 wickets in the 18th match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) held in Kirtipur on Saturday.
With this win, Sudurpaschim secures its playoff berth, leaving Janakpur with only a faint hope of qualification.
Chasing the 146-run target set by Janakpur, Sudurpaschim reached it in 17.4 overs losing 4 wickets.
Ishan Pandey topped the score with 56 runs including 8 fours and 1 six followed by Binod Bhandari with 42 runs while Harmeet Singh and Dipendra Singh Airee 25 and 10 runs, respectively. The other batsmen could achieve significant runs.
In reply, Maaz Sadaqat took 2 wickets while Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Aaditya Mahata claimed 1 wicket each for Janakpur.
Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss at the TU International Cricket Ground on Saturday, Janakpur Bolts notched up 145 runs losing 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi topped the score with 50 runs followed by Jan Nicol Loftie Eaton with 39 runs while Aaditya Mahata, Wayne Parnell and Maaz Sadaqat contributed 15, 14 and 12 runs, respectively.
On the bowling side, Abinash Bohara took the highest 4 wickets followed by Scott Kuggeleijn with 3 wickets while and Dipendra Singh Airee claimed 1 wicket for Sudurpaschim.
With this win, Sudurpaschim remained atop the points table with 10 points by winning all 5 games while Janakpur is at the bottom losing all 4 matches played so far.
Earlier, Lumbini Lions defeated Pokhara Avengers by 3 wickets in the first match.
Karnali Yaks will take on Kathmandu Gorkhas on Sunday at 3:30 pm.
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