Biratnagar Kings made it to the Qualifier 1 by defeating Sudurpaschim by 6 wickets in the 26th match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL), a franchised-based T20 cricket tournament, held in Kirtipur.
With the win, Biratnagar is set to lock horns with Sudurpaschim in the Qualifier 1 to be held on Tuesday at 4 pm. The winner will advance to the final of the NPL Season 2 while the loser will face the winner of the eliminator in the Qualifier 2.
Even though Biratnagar and Kahmandu Gorkhas have equal 10 points, Biratnagar advanced to the Qualifier 1 due to run rate. Biratnagar's run rate is 0.680 while that of Kathmandu's is 0.537. Hence, Kathmandu and Lumbini Lions will face each other in the Eliminator. The winner of the Eliminator and the loser will face each other in the Qualifier 2. The match will be held on Wednesday and Thirday, respectively.
Chasing the 148-run target set by Sudurpaschim, Biratnagar reached it in 11.5 overs losing 4 wickets.
Faf du Plessis and Sam Heazlett scored half-centuries each for the win of Biratnagar while Martin Guptill and Pratis GC contributed 22 and 13 runs, respectively.
In reply, Abinash Bohara and Harmeet Singh took 2 and 1 wicket, respectively, for Sudurpaschim.
Earlier, invited to bat first after losing the toss at the TU International Cricket Ground on Saturday, Sudurpaschim notched up 147 runs losing six wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Aarif Sheikh took the highest 45 runs followed by Ishan Pandey with 38 runs while Josh Brown, Dipendra Singh Airee and Binod Bhandari contributed 24, 19 and 15 runs, respectively. The other batsmen could not achieve significant runs.
On the bowling side, Sandeep Lamichhane took the highest 3 wickets followed by Pratish GC with 2 wickets while Basir Ahamad claimed 1 wicket for Biratnagar.
Despite the loss, Sudurpaschim is still atop the score board with 12 points while Biratnagar remains in the second position with 10 points from equal seven matches.
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