NPL: Janakpur Bolts win three in a row, Pokhara Avengers shocked again

Kirtipur, December 5 – Janakpur Bolts has defeated Pokhara Avengers by 7 wickets in the eighth match of the Nepal Premier League.

Pokhara Avengers made 138 at the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Pokhara Avengers’ innings began cautiously, with Andries Gous (20 off 16) and Dinesh Kharel (10 off 17) getting out early. 

Marcus Critchley (35 off 30) played a solid knock in the middle, but wickets continued to tumble.

Raymon Reifer (17 off 20) and Michael Leask (25 off 13) provided some late fireworks, with Leask’s quick-fire 25 helping push the total to a defendable 138.

Lalit Rajbanshi (3/31), James Neesham (2/29) and Mohammad Mohsin (1/17) were the standout bowlers for Janakpur Bolts.

In response, Janakpur Bolts got off to a shaky start with captain Anil Sah (1 off 3) falling early to Bipin Khatri.

However, Aasif Sheikh (33 off 34) and Lahiru Milantha (45 off 32) steadied the chase with a solid partnership, accumulating runs with ease.

Milantha’s knock was particularly dominant, hitting eight boundaries and a strike rate of 140.62.

Harsh Thaker (13* off 14) provided support, and it was left to Neesham (40* off 20) to guide Janakpur to victory with a blistering cameo.

His five sixes helped him finish with a remarkable strike rate of 200, sealing the match with 17 balls to spare.

Pokhara’s bowlers couldn’t stop the run flow.