Janakpur Royals crushed Far West United by eight wickets to strengthen their position in the second spot in the Nepal T20 League on Thursday.

Earlier, in the morning, Biratnagar Super Kings added to Pokhara Avengers’ misery, scoring a comfortable eight-wicket victory.

Sent in to bat first, Far West posted 169/6 in 20 overs after their tail wagged at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.

Lower order batter and allrounder Karan KC smashed 46 not out off 17 balls to help Far West reach a moderate total.

Janakpur’s Lalit Rajbanshi took two wickets to top the bowling charts with nine wickets, with Binod Bhandari falling cheaply for 12 and United Arab Emirates batter Umair Ali for nought.

Opener Hasim Ansari departed after scoring 11 runs. West Indies batter Chadwick Walton impressed with the gloves behind the wickets. Walton also caught Ansari’s opening partner Dev Khanal.

Far West had scored only 111/6 when the Afghanistan batter and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi came in and scored a quick 19 and Harishankar Shah chipped in with 13.

But KC joined Sharki for an unbeaten 58-run stand for the seventh wicket in an aggressive knock that saw KC take 26 runs off a Jitendra Mukhiya over. KC hit three consecutive sixes and then a boundary in the first four balls he received, to add spice to the game.

Sharki was unconquered on 36 at the end of the innings.

In the chase, Janakpur duo Walton and Sundeep Jora smashed half-centuries in their unbroken stand of 151 runs for the third wicket to send Far West on a leather hunt.

It was the highest partnership in the country’s first-ever official franchise cricket tournament.

Walton played an unbeaten knock of 60 off 40 balls, that included two fours and five sixes, while player of the match Jora cracked three boundaries and five sixes in his unbeaten 54-ball 77 to lead Janakpur to 171/2 and subdue a Far West side that have managed only one win in the league.

The win gives Janakpur six points from three matches. They now lie in the second position, two behind Lumbini All Stars.

Far West are second from the bottom on two points.

Pokhara’s woes continue

Pokhara suffered their fifth straight defeat in as many matches to stay at rock bottom in the six-team standings after playing all fixtures of round 1.

West Indies’ Andre McCarthy took 3-22 to help Biratnagar restrict Pokhara to 135-6.

McCarthy’s four-over spell included the scalps of opener Aasif Sheikh, who made 11—his highest tally in three innings he has played since scoring a half-century against Janakpur on December 25, Siddhant Lohani (9) and Kushal Malla (1).

Ameer Hamza scored 37 not out off 25 balls for Pokhara.

Opener Sumit Maharjan made 26 facing 25 deliveries and Sri Lankan batter and captain Upul Tharanga 25 off 24 balls.

In reply, Rohit Paudel scored a half-century to guide Biratnagar to 138-2 in 18.4 overs.

Paudel scored an unbeaten 71 to become the only third Nepali batsman—tenth overall—to manage a half-century in the tournament.

Paudel shared a 78-run second-wicket stand with United States batter Gauranshu Sharma (33) to make a bright start, despite opener Arjun Saud being dismissed for a duck.

Hussain Talat then joined Paudel and scored 28 not out to guide Biratnagar to their second win in four matches.

Biratnagar are now level with Kathmandu Knights on four points, but sit in the fourth position due to an inferior run rate.