An uncharacteristic half century from skipper Paras Khadka led Nepal ‘Red’ to second consecutive victory, while Hashim Ansari’s gritty 91 handed Nepal ‘Grey’ their first win in the Super League cricket tournament on Monday.

At the TU ground, Red defeated Nepal ‘Blue’ by 37 runs where Anil Mandal also scored a half century and Bhuwan Karki took his second consecutive five-for in what serves as a selection tournament for the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Championship matches against Papua New Guinea in the UAE slated for November 16 and 18. Karki had also taken five wickets in Red’s 16-run win over Nepal ‘Green’.

Put in to bat first, Red made 211-6 in 50 overs before stopping Blue for 174 all out in 39.2 overs. Opener Bhupendra led a lonely battle with a 71-ball 51 hitting eight boundaries and a six before falling to Karki as the sixth Blue wicket to fall. Bidhan Shrestha and Mehboob Alam were the next best scorer with 24 runs each.

Karki finished with the figures of 5-24 from seven over with Yagyaman Kumal also picking up 3-37 from 7.2. Earlier, Red lost opener Paresh Lohani (22) and Sagar Pun (16) with just over 50 runs on the board before Khadka consolidated the innings with a 103-run partnership with Anil Mandal. Khadka, often fluent in national cricket, took 86 balls to reach his half century and made 60 off 103 with seven hits to the fence.

Sanjam Regmi had ended the partnership with a 117-ball 52 that included three fours and a six. Regmi took 5-55 in 10 overs. Red lead the round robin league table with four points from two matches.

At the Pulchowk Engineering College grounds, an all round Grey team inflicted Green their second back-to-back defeat with a crushing 108-run win. Led by national team veteran left arm spinner Shakti Gauchan, Grey made 204-9 before folding Green for just 96 in 33.4 overs.

 Anupam Singh was the only Green batsman to make some mark with a 44-ball 28 that included four hits to the fence. Santosh Bhatt (16), Prithu Baskota (15) and Karan KC (12) were other batsmen to make runs in double figures. Irshad Ahmed was economical in his eight over spell taking 3-14, while Moinuddin Khan, Pradeep Airee and Siddhant Lohani picked up two wickets each.

Grey innings was built around Ansari who slammed 11 boundaries in his 107-ball 91 to lift the team past 200. Lohani also chipped in 24 off 42 with three fours. Karan KC and Santosh Bhatt picked up three wickets each for Green.