Sports

Indian duo upstages Levi fireworks

Lalitpur Patriots made short work of Pokhara Rhinos as Richard Levi’s quickfire innings once again went in vain in an eight-wicket defeat at the TU grounds on Tuesday. Indian duo upstages Levi fireworks

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Adarsha Dhakal

Published at : December 11, 2018

Updated at : December 11, 2018 10:44

Kathmandu

Lalitpur Patriots made short work of Pokhara Rhinos as Richard Levi’s quickfire innings once again went in vain in an eight-wicket defeat at the TU grounds on Tuesday.

While Patriots earned its second consecutive victory, Rhinos lost its second in a row. It had also lost to Bhairahawa Gladiators in a high-scoring thriller on Sunday despite making 215 runs. It was once again South African batsman Levi who ran riot over the bowlers, smashing a 39-ball 84 but once he was dismissed Patriots began to take control of the game and restricted Rhinos to 166-4 in 20 overs.

For the third time Patriots experimented with its opening pair, bring this time the Indian duo Jaykishan Kolsawala and Gaurav Tomar. The move worked wonders as the two batsmen shared a match-winning 129-run stand before Patriots reached 171-2 in 15.5 overs. Kolsawala scored his first half century of the tournament before falling to spinner Sushan Bhari Shrestha. He scored 51 off 38 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Tomar, the most aggressive of the two, smashed 82 from 41 balls with eight sixes and four hits to the fence.

Sunny Patel (20 off 8) and Sonu Tamang (11 off 8) sealed a convincing victory for Patriots. Paul Coughlin took the other wicket for Rhinos. Patriots skipper Gyanendra Malla lauded the two openers. “We were just looking for the best combination. I am happy that Gaurav and Jaykishan are finding form. The bowlers did well because they recovered after being hit for too many runs in the previous match,” said Malla.

Earlier, Levi scored more than half the team total, hammering nine big sixes and three boundaries. His skipper and opening partner Kyle Coetzer was just a calm ally at the other end in a 97-run first wicket partnership. Patriots finally heaved a sigh of relief after Pawan Sarraf had Levi caught by Sandeep Jora at mid wicket. Levi came into the match a day after slamming 36-ball 79 against Gladiators. But unlike in the match against Gladiators, Rhinos failed to build on the start from Levi collecting just 69 runs in the last 10 overs.

Binod Bhandari pushed the team close to 170 making a 23-ball 34 with three fours and a six. Coetzer scored 19 off 31 balls with one boundary. Sarraf took 3-31 from four overs for Patriots. Scottish national team skipper Coetzer said his team was unable to do better in the field. “At the moment we haven’t quite executed (our plan) as we would have like. The bowlers are aware they haven’t bowled well. They have to know they can do better. Hopefully we will come back and give the best in the field,” said Coetzer.

Summary

Lalitpur Patriots 171-2 in 15.5 overs (G Tomar 82, J Kolsawala 51; P Coughlin 1-31, S Bhari 1-26) beats Pokhara Rhinos 166-4 in 20 overs (R Levi 84, B Bhandari 34; P Sarraf 3-31) by eight wickets

Man-of-the-match: G Tomar

Kings XI opens account

Anand Subramanian of Kathmandu Kings XI plays a shot against Chitwan Tigers during their Everest Premier League match at the TU Stadium in Kirtipur on Monday.

Kathmandu Kings XI registered victory in its first match of the Everest Premier League (EPL) beating Chitwan Tigers by six wickets on Monday.

Electing to field first, Kings XI overcame a swift start from Tigers to restrict it to just 160 runs in 19.5 overs. Kings XI did lose four wickets but in the process managed to catch up with the run rate before Indian recruit Subramanian Anand finished off the game with a 43-run cameo of 18 balls.

Prithu Baskota’s Tigers, who lost to Lalitpur Patriots by 11 runs, went on to lose its second consecutive match. Openers Amit Shrestha (18) and Sagar Pun put on 36 for the first wicket before Shahab Alam dismissed the former and capped a memorable day with the wicket of Kings XI’s Irish recruit Kevin O’Brien (nine) in his consecutive overs.

Pun and Naresh Budhayer (22) added 37 runs for the third wicket before both lost their wickets in a space of 25 runs. Pun made 39 off 34 with six boundaries. Kings XI needed 45 runs from the last five overs and Anand did the rest for his team. Anand shared 49 runs for the fifth wicket with Amar Singh Routela (21 not out) to sail the team home. Man-of-the-match Anand struck four sixes and a boundary.

Ireland skipper Paul Stirling had earlier given a quick start to Tigers with a 53-run first wicket stand with Sandeep Sunar (25) in just four overs. But after Pradeep Sahu dismissed Stirling and new-man John Simpson in consecutive balls, Tigers struggled to make the most of the start.

Stirling struck three sixes and as many boundaries in his 13-ball 34. Marquee player Dipendra Singh Airee once again top-scored for the team with 40-ball 45. Skipper Prithu Baskota was unbeaten on a run-a-ball 20. Sahu and Samshad Alam picked up three wickets each for Kings XI. (PR)

Summary

Kathmandu Kings XI 164-4 in 18.5 overs (S Anand 43*, S Pun 39; S Alam 2-26, LS Bhandari 1-42) beat Chitwan Tigers 160 in 19.5 overs (DS Airee 45, P Stirling 34; P Sahu 3-24, S Sheikh 3-18) by six wickets

Man-of-the-match: S Anand

Adarsha Dhakal
Adarsha Dhakal is a sports reporter for The Kathmandu Post. He has been reporting on sports for more than a decade, focusing on cricket, basketball and sports features. He has been with the Post for over five years and has worked for various other national publications.