Rain played spoilsport as Colors X-Factor entered the final of the Wai Wai Everest Premier League at the expense of unlucky Vishal Warriros on Saturday.

Gyanendra Malla-led X-Factor ended second in the league table with seven points, while Paras Khadka skippered Warriors finished third with six points. X-Factor

will now clash for the title against Sharad Vesawkar’s Panchakanya Tez who topped the league table with 10 points winning all their five matches.

Warriors also had their opening day match against Kantipur Gurkhas washed out due to persistent rain at the TU Stadium. However, it was not a persistent rain but a 30- minute heavy shower that ruined the excitement of a clash between two big teams of the tournament.

After the first match of the day between Sagarmatha Legends and Jagdamba Rhinos was done, X-Factor won the toss and elected to bat first. Faizlur Rahman Khan’s seven-ball 21 with three sixes got X-Factor off to a brisk start and reached 37-2 in 3.4 overs before rain intervened.

The groundsmen and volunteers did their best to soak up the ground but it remained unplayable. Warriors skipper Paras Khadka, who had an excellent tournament making 182 runs from three matches, was left dejected.

“It feels bad for sure. I have been in the other side of the rope as well when I played for Nepal and rain had been an advantage. Everything doesn’t go with you all the time,” said Khadka adding Warriors were leaving with many positives.

“We showed a lot of character in the three matches that we played. As a captain of the team, I am very happy by the effort that our boys put in. The tournament was a fantastic platform for every player to perform,” the national team skipper added.

X-Factor coach Manjur Alam said his side cannot be termed lucky. “Today’s match served as a semi-final because we had won three consecutive matches to be at this position. We would have loved to be in the semi-finals winning today’s game but unfortunately rain didn’t allow that to happen,” said Alam.

Earlier in the day, Shakti Gauchan’s Rhinos signed off from the tournament with a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sagarmatha Legends, skippered by Binod Bhandari. Legends, meanwhile, finished a horrible campaign with fifth consecutive defeat.

In the inconsequential game, Legends made 127-5 in 20 overs before an unbeaten century stand between Subhendu Pandey and Gauchan guided Rhinos to 128-2 in 17.5 overs. Rhinos lost opener Mahesh Chhetri (four) and Amit Shrestha (three) at 17-2 before Pandey and Gauchan made the short work of Legends. Pandey notched up tournament’s third best individual score making 78 off 52 with six boundaries and four sixes, with his skipper playing the role of a calm ally contributing 35 off 36 with four hits to the fence.

Earlier, Pawan Sharraf picked up three wickets as Legends headed towards a possible collapse. However, all rounder Mehboob Alam pushed the team towards a respectable total hitting 47 off 30 balls. His innings included four sixes and three boundaries. Shankar Rana was Legens next best scorer with a 36-ball 27. He hit three fours. Shah Alam bowled a tight spell for Rhinos taking 1-3 from three overs.