Dhangadi XI lost to Nepal XI by 31 runs in a charity match held prior to the upcoming Dhangadi Premier League (DPL) at SSP Cricket Ground, Dhangadi on Sunday.

Nepal XI had earlier won the toss and elected to bat first putting up a score of 161-runs to Dhangadi XI who in return were able to score 130 runs in the limited 20 overs with the loss of 8 wickets.

Bikram Thagunna of Dhangadi XI drew the first blood by taking the wickets of both Nepal XI openers Sagar Pun and Dilip Nath in the very first over of the innings. Basanta Regmi and skipper Paras Khadka then came to stabilise the Nepal XI innings with a solid 82-runs partnership. Sharad Vesawker scored 19 and Mahaboob Alam posted 10 runs for the visitors.

Thagunna was the star bowler of the match and took four wickets giving just 21 runs. Sagar Bhandari and KC Padam took one wicket each for the home team.

In response, the home team lost a total of eight wickets falling 31 runs short of the target. Sunil Dhamala was their top scorer with 34 runs followed by Dipendra Singh Aire who put up 26 runs on the board. Roshan Adhikari, Bijay Rana and Lokesh Bam scored 17, 13 and 10 runs respectively with other batsmen failing to score double digit runs.

Shakti Gauchan boosted Nepal XI’s spirits when he took three wickets in 9-balls. Sompal Kami also took 2 wickets of the home team followed by Alam, Samdeep Lamichhane and Avinash Karn who claimed one wicket each.