Sports
Warriors beat Thunders in opening game
Batting first in the Twenty20 tournament organised by Saptari Cricket Association, Thunders posted 179-2 before restricting Warriors to 146-8.Sports Bureau
An explosive knock from Bode-Barsain Thunders’ Mukunda Yadav sealed a 33-run win over Bajaj Khadak Warriors in the inaugural match of the Saptari Premier League in Rajbiraj on Monday.
Batting first in the Twenty20 tournament organised by Saptari Cricket Association, Thunders posted 179-2 before restricting Warriors to 146-8. After openers Manjeet Shrestha and Pawan Das gave Thunders a composed start, the next three batsmen Meenash Thapa, Amit Yadav and Mukunda took the opposition by storm. Shrestha and Das put on 47-run stand for the first wicket in 8.3 overs. Das scored a fluent 33 off 36 balls with six boundaries, while Shrestha made 12 off 22 balls.
Thapa joined Das after the dismissal of Shrestha and the two batsmen added another 63 runs for the second wicket. Thapa struck two sixes and a four in his 27-ball 32. But it was Amit and man-of-the-match Mukunda who inflicted the maximum damage on the Warriors putting on an unbroken 69-run stand in just 22 balls.
Mukunda clobbered five fours and four sixes in his blistering knock of 49 off just 15 balls. Amit hit 34, his 22-ball cameo included three sixes and two fours. Nandan Jha and Yograj Sharma took one wicket each for Warriors.
In reply, Hari Shankhar Shah gave a decent performance scoring quick runs batting at the top but saw wickets tumble at regular intervals at the other end. Shah scored 45 off 29 deliveries with four boundaries and two sixes. His fine job was undone by reckless batting from his teammates as Samsad Sheikh was the only other batsman to put up some fight. Sheikh remained unbeaten 44 from 40 balls. He hit three fours and two sixes. Manjeet Shrestha claimed three for the Thunders.