Defending champions Region No 3 Kathmandu thrashed Region No 2 Birgunj in a record-breaking match of the Pepsi Men’s Twenty20 Cricket Tournament at the IOE Ground.
Kathmandu scored 194/5 in 20 overs and restricted Birgunj for 132/6 for a huge 62-run victory on the opening day while Region No 1 Biratnagar defeated Region No 5 Nepalgunj by 9 wickets.
Kathmandu’s total and margin of victory are the National League records.
For Kathmandu, Dipendra Chaudhary scored 68 off 45 with two fours and five sixes – the highest individual score of the league surpassing his own 67 scored last year against the same team.
Captain Paras Khadka got quickfire 45 off 21 balls with nine fours and a six. Paresh Lohani (32 off 33) and Sanjay Shrestha (28 off 16) also contributed to Kathmandu’s total.
Their battering saw Yasin Hawari going for 45 runs in 3 overs, Sanjam Regmi 38 in 4 and Binod Das 35 in 4. All of them took a wicket along with Raj Mohammad (1/25).
Birgunj’s reply was spirited but never meeting the run-rate required. Dipendra Shah (47 off 41), Mohd Hasin (33 off 30) and Binod (27 off 25) tried to turn the tables but pegged back by good bowling.
Pramod Basnet and Sunam Gautam each took two wickets.
Earlier, Nepalgunj’s dismal batting put them on back in the inaugural match. Apart from Mahesh Chhetri, who got 38 off 62, no other batsmen reached double-digit as the far-westerns scored 72/9.
Mehboob Alam bowled a three-over spell grabbing two wickets for six runs while Manjeet Shrestha also claimed two wickets.
While replying, Mehboob failed to show his aggression in batting going out for six but Sunny Pun (35 off 36) and man of the match Pushpa Thapa (29 off 32) took them home safely.
On Monday, Biratnagar plays Kathmandu while Birgunj takes on Nepalgunj.