Nepal secured their second consecutive victory in the Top End T20 Series, defeating Melbourne Renegades Academy by 33 runs at Cazalys Arena in Darwin, Australia, on Wednesday.

Dipendra Singh Airee, replacing Rohit Kumar Paudel as the skipper after Paudel was dropped in the game for the first time in the series, elected to bat first. Nepal’s regular opener Aasif Sheikh was also not in Stuart Law’s playing XI on Wednesday.

The decision to bat first led Nepal to their first win in four games on Tuesday as they defeated Hobart Hurricanes Academy by 66 runs. Elsewise, Nepal were fielding first in the first three fixtures, all of which they lost.

Nepal posted 139 runs against Melbourne Renegades in the loss of nine wickets. Kushal Malla was the highest scorer with 29 off 22, hitting a four and a six.

Airee, who was not in the squad on Tuesday, contributed 27 from 28 deliveries, while Lokesh Bam added 24 from 16. Bhim Sharki made 17 off 12, Aarif Sheikh contributed 12 off 7, and Rupesh Singh chipped in with 16 off 21.

Kushal Bhurtel departed early after only opening his account with a single in six of the deliveries he faced. Bhurtel and Malla are the only two players to have been inducted in all five games while Law has been making changes every match day.

Of the seven bowlers used by the Renegades, Fergus O'Neill, Callum Stow, Lachlan Bangs and Michael Archer each bagged two wickets.

In turn, Nepal were stronger with the ball. Sompal Kami, who had a poor start in the first game of the series against the hosts Northern Territory Strike on August 15, made an outstanding comeback against the Renegades.

Kami had opened the bowling attack against NT Strike and took 10 deliveries to complete his over as he gave three no-balls and one wide. He did not bowl again after that over in that game. He also gave 45 runs while taking only one wicket in his four overs against Melbourne Stars Academy on Monday.

Nonetheless, against the Melbourne Renegades, Kami took a fifer. He gave Nepal their first wicket, of opener Dylan Brasher, in the third over of the game, and went on to pick four more. His last victim was Stow, who was caught out by Bhurtel in the last ball of the second inning. After Stow’s wicket, the Renegades were bundled out at 106 runs.

Kami only gave 17 runs in his four overs on Wednesday.

“We knew how to defend 140 in a difficult pitch for batters,” Kami said in the post-match conference. “It is my first tour to Australia, and it feels amazing. We are enjoying the games against good teams.”

Similarly, Bhurtel, who was not good with the bat, made a good contribution with his legbreak. He gave only 20 runs in four overs and took two wickets. Shahab Alam and Rupesh Singh also claimed one each.

The win propelled Nepal to the sixth position in the league table among 11 teams. The Rhinos now have four points from two wins in five games.

Nepal will have six points if they can defeat Pakistan Shaheens in their last league-stage game on Friday. But it might not suffice to take Nepal to the semi-finals as Chicago Kingsmen, with two games remaining, stay atop with eight points from four wins in four games while Pakistan, NT Strike and Perth Scorchers Academy have six points each. Pakistan and Perth have one game each in hand while NT Strike have two.

Further, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades and Bangladesh ‘A’ have four points each and two more games in hand.