Paras Khadka’s Biratnagar Warriors became the first team to reach Everest Premier League (EPL) Twenty20 playoffs on Friday with a 71-run drubbing of Chitwan Tigers.

Warriors have maximum six points from three matches at the top of the table and with two matches left, neither winless Tigers nor fifth placed Kathmandu Kings XI, who have two points, can overhaul them for the top four spot that guarantees a place in the playoffs. In an early match, Pokhara Rhinos eased to a six-wicket victory over Farveez Maharoof’s Kings XI.

Rhinos are third on net run-rate from three matches after tying on four points with Sharad Vesawkar’s Bhaira-hawa Gladiators, who have played one match less. Lalitpur Patriots (two points) are in fourth.

Babar Hayat’s destructive batting was the toast of the day for Warriors as the Hong Kong international smashed tournament-high 81 off 42 balls with six sixes and five fours leading his team to 174-8. Tigers were never in the chase as they lost wickets regularly before they were bundled out for 103 runs in 18.2 overs.

Hayat had a fine outing after he stepped in when Warriors lost opener Asif Sheikh (21) with 35 runs on the board. Together with compatriot Anshuman Rath he put on 107 runs for the second wicket in 62 balls. Hayat was particularly brutal on Tigers skipper Dipendra Singh Airee, who was smashed for four consecutive sixes and a boundary in the 13th over.

The No 2 batsman Hayat brought tournament’s fastest 50 in just 24 deliveries before losing his wicket in the 19th over. Rath made 41 off 40 with five boundaries. Khadka hit an eight-ball 16. Warriors could have brought first 200 runs in the tournament had not they lost six wickets in the last two overs. Praveen Gupta picked up four wickets in the last over and returned the figures of 4-23 from four overs. Pramesh Kumar dismissed Hayat and Khadka in consecutive deliveries in the 19th over.

No 6 batsman Bhim Sharki pushed the team towards triple figures with a 20-ball 24 hitting a six and a four. Sandeep Sunar was their next best scorer with 16. Basanta Regmi took 4-11 from 3.2 overs for Warriors and Avinash Karn also had two scalps. “The batting was exceptional. Babar and Anshuman have been batting pretty well and the bowlers stepped up as well. We want to continue this momentum. But we know that its not going to be easy for us,” said Khadka. Hayat was glad to have contributed in team’s victory. “Its amazing to chip in for the team. The way we batted and bowled today was great. There are two more games and we have to finish on top,” said Hayat.

In the first match, Rhinos took control of the game from the first over before restricting Kings XI to 98-8. Pakistani allrounder Israrullah led the chase with an unbeaten 45 off 48 as Rhinos finished at 102-4 in 18.2 overs.

Kings XI did manage to get rid of opener Sunil Dhamala (20), Binod Bhandari (three), Rajesh Pulami (eight) and Asif Ali (three) but Israrullah shared 37 runs for the fifth wicket with skipper Shakti Gauchan (18 not out) to hand his side the victory. The man-of-the-match hit three fours and two sixes.

Earlier, Bikram Sob dealt a hammer blow to Kings XI getting rid of Thursday’s highest scorers Maharoof and opener Amit Shrestha for duck in the first over. Kings XI hardly recovered and were restricted to a below-par total. Sagar Pun top scored for Kings XI with a 47-ball 36 hitting two fours and a six.

Maharoof was left dejected by yet another poor batting display. “Its not a good situation to be in where we have to win not only our last game but also wait for the results of other matches to get a place in playoffs. Batting let us down and we also failed to take some catches that could have given us some hope,” said Maharoof.

Summaries

Biratnagar Warriors 174-8 in 20 overs (B Hayat 81, A Rath 41; P Gupta 5-23, P Kumar 2-25) beat Chitwan Tigers 103 all out in 18.2 overs (B Sharki 24, S Sunar 16; B Regmi 4-11,

A Karn 2-20) by 71 runs

Man-of-the-match: B Hayat

........

Pokhara Rhinos 102-4 in 18.2 overs (Israrullah 45 not out, S Dhamala 20;

S Pun 2-19, BK Bhushal 1-24) beat Kathmandu Kings XI 98-8 in 20 overs (S Pun 36, R Rijal 17; B Sob 2-11, S Gauchan 2-20, S Bhari 2-19)

by six wickets

Man-of-the-match: Israrullah

Standings

Teams P W L NR Pts NRR

Warriors 3 3 0 0 6 1.342

Gladiators 2 2 0 0 4 0.846

Rhinos 3 2 1 0 4 0.474

Patriots 3 1 2 0 2 0.218

Kings XI 4 1 3 0 2 -0.731

Tigers 3 0 3 0 0 -1.630