IPL 2025: Sudurpaschim Royals defends 147 runs to register maiden win

Kathmandu, Nov 19: Sudurpaschim Royals have defended a par total of 147 runs to defeat Kathmandu Gorkhas by 29 runs.     

Playing their first match under the Nepal Premier League (NPL) at Kirtipur-based TU International Cricket Ground today, Sudurpaschim Royals bowled out Kathmandu in 16.5 overs, restricting them to just 118 runs.     

For Kathmandu, Only Aakash Tripathi and John Simpson were able to make good scores of 34 and 24 runs respectively, while other batsmen failed to make any impact despite chasing a modest total.     

For the bowling side, Harmit Singh took 2 wickets giving away only 21 runs in his full quota of 4 overs. He had also contributed significantly with the bat, scoring the only half century of the match. Hemant Dhami and Scott Kuggeleijn also took 2 wickets each.     

Earlier, Sudurpaschim had scored 147 runs in 20 overs losing all wickets, after being Invited to bat first upon losing the toss.     

Harmeet Singh scored highest 53 runs in 20 balls while captain Dipendra Singh Airee gathered 39 runs in 30 balls. Similarly, Aasif Sheikh made 25 runs and Ishan Pandey contributed 11 runs each.     

For the bowling side, Karan KC of Kathmandu Gorkhas took four wickets while Sunny Patel, Milind Kumar and Rashid Khan two wickets each.     

This is the first win for Sudurpachim and the first loss for Kathmandu, after beating the defending Champions Janakpur bolts by 5 wickets in the inaugural match of the franchise-based tournament.     

Chitwan Rhinos will face Lumbini Lions in the match to be held tomorrow, beginning at 4:00 pm at the same venue. This will be the first match of both the teams in the tournament, that features a total of eight franchise-based teams. (RSS)