२०८१ नेपाल प्रिमियर लिगको फाइनल

२०८१ को नेपाल प्रिमियर लिगको फाइनल २१ डिसेम्बर २०२४ मा कीर्तिपुरस्थित त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय क्रिकेट मैदानमा खेलिएको थियो। सुदूरपश्चिम रोयल्सले क्वालिफायर १ मा जित हासिल गरेपछि फाइनलको लागि छनोट भएको थियो। उनीहरूले जनकपुर बोल्टसँग प्रतिस्पर्धा गरेका थिए, जसले क्वालिफायर २ मा जित हासिल गरेपछि फाइनलको लागि छनोट भएको थियो।

 Background 

On 18 November 2024, the CAN announced the schedule for the 2024 season of the Nepal Premier League. It was announced that all the matches including playoffs would  be played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. Sudurpaschim Royals and Janakpur Bolts qualified for the Final.

Road to the final 

Sudurpaschim Royals had a successful league stage with only 1 loss against Chitwan Rhinos. They won the rest 6 matches garnering a total of 12 points finishing atop the league table. They defeated Janakpur Bolts in Qualifier 1 to gain their place in the Final.

Janakpur Bolts finished second in the league table winning 5 games and losing 2 games against Sudurpaschim Royals and Chitwan Rhinos to end with a total of 10 points. They again lost the Qualifier 1 to Sudurpaschim Royals and had to defeat Karnali Yaks in Qualifier 2 for a place in the Final.

Source: ESPNcricinfo

vsLeague StageOpponentScorecardResultPointsMatch No.OpponentScorecardResultPointsBiratnagar Kings3 December 2024Won2 1Biratnagar Kings30 November 2024Won2Kathmandu Gurkhas5 December 2024Won4 2Karnali Yaks2 December 2024Won4Lumbini Lions7 December 2024Won6 3Pokhara Avengers5 December 2024Won6Chitwan Rhinos8 December 2024Lost6 4Lumbini Lions8 December 2024Won8Janakpur Bolts11 December 2024Won8 5Sudurpaschim Royals11 December 2024Lost8Pokhara Avengers15 December 2024Won10 6Kathmandu Gurkhas12 December 2024Won10Karnali Yaks16 December 2024Won12 7Chitwan Rhinos14 December 2024Lost10Playoff stageOpponentScorecardResultOpponentScorecardResultJanakpur Bolts18 December 2024Won  Sudurpaschim Royals18 December 2024Lost Qualified for the finals  Karnali Yaks19 December 2024Won 2024 Nepal Premier League final

 Match 
 Match officials 
 On-field umpires: Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) and Rashid Riaz (Pak)
 Third umpire: Buddhi Pradhan (Nep)
 Reserve umpire: Sanjay Sigdel (Nep)
 Match referee: Manu Nayyar (Ind)
 Toss: Sudurpaschim Royals  won the toss and elected to bat.

 Summary 

 Sudurpaschim Royals innings 
Sudurpaschim Royals (SR) won the toss and elected to bat. The team had early start. Both opening batters, Saif Zaib and Binod Bhandari smashed bolwer till first 10 overs. Saif Zaib was the first to fall, bowled by Nepalese fast bowler Kishore Mahato for 69 runs in the twelfth over. Nepalese batter Binod Bhandari followed soon after, clean bowled for 41 runs off Left-arm spiner Lalit Rajbanshi's bowling. SR's top order continued to falter, with Harmeet Singh scoring 14 runs before being caught off Mohsin's bowling, leaving SR at 143 for the loss of 3 wickets in the fifteenth over.

Scottish Brandon McMullen tried to stabilize the innings, scoring 14 runs off 12 balls, but he too fell, bowled off Kiwi' all-rounder James Neesham's bowling. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee added 9 runs before being dismissed by spiner Mohammad Mohsin, while Kiwi Scott Kuggeleijn contributed 13 runs before also falling to Mahato.Ishan Pandey, managed 6 runs off 2 balls, including one four, but his effort was cut short when he was runout off Mohsin. Naresh Budayair managed 8 runs, including one six, before being caught pacer Mahato's bowling. Aarif Sheikh and Naren Saud did not add much, with Sheikh being caught to leg spinner Mohsin for 1 and Saud remaining not out on 1.

JB's bowling attack was led by Kishore Mahato, who claimed 3 wickets for 25 runs. Mohammad Mohsin took 3 wickets for 40 runs. Lalit Rajbanshi took 1 wicket for just 15 runs with lowest economy, while James Neesham matched Rajbanshi with 1 wickets for 44 runs. Harsh Thaker and Sher Malla unabled to picke up a wicket, conceding 33 and 25 runs respectively. SR's innings included 8 extras, with their overall run rate of 9.2 at the end.

 Janakpur Bolts innings 
Janakpur Bolts (JB) had a good start to the chase and both the openers Lahiru Milantha and Aasif Sheikh were looking in great form. Sheikh scored a quick 33 off 19 balls before being caught by Brandon McMullen off Saif Zaib' bowling in the seventh over. Mohammad Mohsin joined Milantha, but unable to stood on crease as he was dismissed cheaply by Ishan Pandey. This brought Harsh Thaker to the crease, who, alongside opener Milantha, took control of the chase. Milantha scored 87 runs off 49 balls, including nine fours and four sixes before eventually being dismissed in the sixteenth over, caught and bowled by Scott Kuggeleijn. Later, James Neesham and Thaker tried to stabilize the innings and took the score to 176 but as the run rate went down, Neesham while trying to score a boundary was dismissed by captain Dipendra Singh Airee on 4. Soon, Aakash Tripathi were also cheaply dismissed by Airee through runout. Thaker continued his innings after the loss of Tripathi, reaching 30 off 24 balls. Mayan Yadav, joined him at the crease and contributed 2 off 3 balls, helping reach the target with 4 balls to spare.

American spinner Harmeet Singh Baddhan conceded 32 runs in his 4 overs, while Abinash Bohara gave away 19 runs in his 2 overs. Overseas player Saif Zaib and Scott Kuggeleijn were managed to pick up the wicket of Aasif and Milantha respectively, finishing with figures of 1 wicket for 14 and 43 in 3 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee and Ishan Pandey were the other two wicket-taker, claiming Mohsin's and Neesham wicket respectively and Airee ending with figures of 1 wicket for 40 runs in his 4 overs and Pandey with 1 wicket for 19 runs in his 2 overs.

JB ended with a decisive victory by 5 wickets securing their first NPL title.

 Scorecard 
Source: ESPNcricinfo

1st innings

|colspan="4"| Extras 8 (b 1, lb 1, w 6)  Total 184/9 (20 overs)
|12
|8
| 9.2 RR

Fall of wickets: 117-1 (Saif Zaib, 11.6 ov), 117-2 (Binod Bhandari, 12.2 ov), 143-3 (Harmeet Singh, 14.6 ov), 149-4 (Brandon McMullen, 15.6 ov), 167-5 (Dipendra Singh Airee, 18.1 ov), 169-6 (Aarif Sheikh, 18.5 ov), 173-7 (Scott Kuggeleijn, 19.1 ov), 181-8 (Naresh Budayair, 19.4 ov), 184-9 (Ishan Pandey, 19.6 ov)

2nd innings

|colspan="4"| Extras 18 (b2, w 16)  Total 185/5 (19.2 overs)
|13
|9
| 9.6 RR

Fall of wickets: 73-1 (Aasif Sheikh, 6.6 ov), 105-2 (Mohammad Mohsin, 9.6 ov), 166-3 (Lahiru Milantha, 15.3 ov), 176-4 (James Neesham, 16.6 ov), 182-5 (Aakash Tripathi, 18.4 ov)

सन्दर्भ सामग्रीहरू