KATHMANDU, Dec 18: Jaykishan Kolsawala's batting anchored Lalitpur Patriots to the first win of the Everest Premier League 2017. Kolsawala scored 44 runs off 48 deliveries and remained not out to guide Patriots to a comfortable first win of the tournament by seven wickets.
The experiment of opening with Pawan Sarraf was failed as in-form speedster Sompal Kami uprooted his stumps in second delivery of the match. Skipper Gyanendra Malla then joined Kolsawala as they laid the foundation for the win. Akshu Fernando picked up two wickets but it wasn’t enough for King XI as Patriots romped past the target in the 17th over.
Earlier, Lalitpur Patriots captain Gyanendra Malla won the toss and elected to bowl in the first match of the Everest Premier League 2017. Lalitpur Patriots produced a bowling exhibition lead by Indian pace bowler Sudesh Bhati as Kathmandu Kings XI (KKXI) was bundled out for 89 runs in the 19th over.
Lalitpur Patriots’ foreign recruit Sudhesh Bhati Bhati picked up four wickets conceding only 15 runs from 3.3 overs. He was supported by Mehboob Alam’s early breakthroughs dismissing Naresh Budhayer and big one Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lankan player and KKXI captain. Bhati combined with veteran Alam displayed hostile bowling spell mixing good bouncers with pitched up deliveries keeping the batsmen guessing throughout their respective overs. Bhati picked up the all-important wickets of Nepal national team opener Sagar Pun, Kings XI’s marquee player Sompal Kami and Sri Lankan recruit Akshu Fernandez.
KKXI batting never recovered from the early blows as left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi chipped in with three wickets to limit the scoring in middle overs.
KKXI opener Amit Shrestha tried to hold the innings together scoring under run a ball 27 on top of the order. He scored four boundaries but it was too little to calm the jitters as Kathmandu batsmen kept getting out for mistimed shots. Kathmandu captain and Sri Lankan player Farveez Maharoof could only muster seven runs from nine deliveries including a six.
Lalit Rajbanshi was adjudged man of the match.
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