Basir Ahamad was the hero on Friday at the TU International Cricket Stadium when he won the match for Biratnagar Kings with a six in 19.5 overs in a tight battle against Karnali Yaks, who had given a target of 161 runs.

Chasing 161 against the Yaks, the Kings were 29/3 in 5.4 overs when Ahamad entered the crease. The opening duo—Lokesh Bam (6 off 11) and George Munsey (0 off 2)—could not do much for the Kings, while Sam Heazlett departed for 16 off 13.

Ahamad’s first partnership, of 34 runs, came with wicketkeeper-batsman Sahil Patel, who departed as the fourth wicket with the team at 63 runs in 11.4 overs. Pacer Marchant de Lange came up the order, but departed for 2 off 2 as the fifth wicket. And when Narayan Joshi came in, he and Ahamad set up a 69-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Joshi, who got a lifeline as Sompal Kami had bowled a no ball when he was caught out, contributed 25 off 16 before departing in 17.4 overs. Kami had celebrated Joshi’s wicket with pushups, only to bowl the delivery again.

Meanwhile, with the Kings at 134 then, requiring 27 runs in 14 deliveries, Ahamad kept the scoreboard ticking. Pratish GC tried helping Ahamad, but he too got caught out at 6 off 5. But in-at-nine Sandeep Lamichhane, Kings’ skipper, stayed with Ahamad as the duo completed the chase with one more delivery left in the innings.

And when Ahamad hit the second-to-last ball of the innings for the six, the Kings reached 163/7 to register their third win in four matches. Lamichhane then celebrated the win with pushups.

All teams have a match winner, Ahamad said after the match-winning knock. “I planned to stay at the crease to help my team win, and thanks to Allah it came true.”

The Yaks had put up the total for a loss of only three wickets. “We made a lot of mistakes,” Yaks’ skipper Kami said after the loss.

Opener Priyank Panchal (63 off 47) and William Bosisto (48 off 48) were the heroes for Karnali with the bat as Mark Watt (6 off 9), Gulshan Kumar Jha (20 off 10) and Najibullah Zadran (12 off 6) contributed decently from their end.

The Kings, who have missed Martin Guptill to injury for two games now, had lost their first match of the season on Wednesday while at a three-match winning streak. Now, they are back in rhythm after winning the fourth of their five matches.

Gorkhas’ hopes for playoffs alive

It was the joint-highest victory in the second Nepal Premier League by runs when Kathmandu Gorkhas beat Chitwan Rhinos by 53 runs, on Friday, to climb to the third position in the points table and keep their hopes for the playoffs alive.

The Rhinos were at the third position before their fixture against the Gorkhas began on Friday afternoon. However, after the loss, the Rhinos went a position down as the Gorkhas climbed over them with two more points. They were level with Biratnagar Kings on points when their match ended, but after the Kings won their match against Karnali Yaks, the Kings, despite one more match played, are on equal footing with table topper Sudurpaschim Kings with eight points.

Winning the toss, the Rhinos had elected to bowl first. And they had a good start sending the top three of Kathmandu back to the pavilion in no time. While opener Ben Charlesworth departed for 13 off 14, Aakash Tripathi (4 off 6) and Rashid Khan (6 off 6) returned for single figures.

It was thanks to the 98-run partnership between Milind Kumar and John Simpson for the fourth wicket that the Gorkhas crossed the three digit mark. However, they suffered heavily after that.

When Kumar (38 off 43) departed as the fourth wicket, the Gorkhas were at 122/4 in 16 overs. Within the next 11 runs, the Gorkhas were at 133/9 in 18.1 overs—losing Simpson (60 off 29), Gerhard Erasmus (0 off 3), Mohammad Adil Alam (8 off 5), Santosh Yadav (0 off 2) and Karan KC (1 off 2).

After Shahab Alam (2 off 4) departed as the last wicket in 19.4 overs, the Gorkhas had 142 runs on the board.

Former Pakistani international, the left-arm medium pacer Sohail Tanvir was the highest wickettaker for the Rhinos, bagging four wickets; three of them in his fourth over when he came to bowl the 18th. Similarly, Ranjeet Kumar and Kamal Singh Airee picked two each, while Ravi Bopara claimed a wicket.

“It was thanks to the partnership between Kumar and Simpson that we posted 140+ score on the wicket, which we knew would get difficult for the team batting second,” said Basant Shahi, coach of the Gorkhas, after the win. “We knew we had a good bowling attack, and it helped us a lot in the defence.”

As Shahi said, the Rhinos struggled batting second. They lost three wickets—Deepak Bohara (0 off 5), Dawid Malan (7 off 10) and Saif Zaib (1 off 3) for single figures—in the powerplay, while two more—Dev Khanal (21 off 18) and Kushal Malla (6 off 13)—before the 10th over ended.

Bopara, the former English international and the leading runscorer of the NPL with three consecutive fifties in the second season, could only score 21 off 23 before departing as the seventh wicket, with the team at 71 runs in 14.5 overs. Tanvir showed some fight late in the game, but he too returned to the pavilion contributing 18 off 17. And in 17.2 overs, the Rhinos were bundled out at 89 runs, the fourth lowest total in the NPL history.

“It was the lack of a decent partnership in the team that we lost today’s game,” Khanal said after the loss. “But the environment in the team’s dressing room is calm and good, as we know, we can bounce back better.”

In the two matches on Saturday, Lumbini Lions face Pokhara Avengers in the first match. It will be followed by the most-anticipated battle—Janakpur Bolts vs Sudurpaschim Royals, between the two finalists of the inaugural season.