Nexus Cricket Academy and Mahakali Cricket Academy entered the quarter-finals of the Rautahat Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Rautahat ground on Friday.

In the first match of the day, Nexus brushed aside Gadhimai Club by 40 runs. Nexus made 125 all out in 20 overs after they elected to bat first. Hemanta Thapa and Arjun Giri then took three wickets each as Gadhimai were bundled out for 83 in 17.5 overs. Thapa was the star performer giving away just nine runs in his four-over spell.

Shankar Paudel was the lone fighter for Gadhimai making a quickfire 28-ball 40 that included four boundaries and three sixes. Dilip Yadav (20) was the next batsman to make runs in double figures.

Earlier, four Nexus batsmen managed to score in double digits leading the team to a challenging total. Abhiyan Basnet (19), Ashim Jha (18), Janak Dhami (17) and Ajit Sharma (15) chipped in important runs for Nexus. Nitesh Kumar Sah (3-22) and Shankar Paudel (2-14) shared five wickets between them for Gadhimai.

Nexus will now play title contenders Nepal Police Club in tournament’s third quarter-final on Sunday before Mahakali take on another strong side Great Himalaya Cricket Academy. Dhangadhi Cricket Academy will play Malpokhari Cricket Club and Rautahat XI will be up against Oasis Cricket Academy in the first two quarter-finals on Saturday.

In the second match on Friday, Mahakali crushed Lions Club by 70 runs despite making a below par 121-6 after opting to bat first. A listless Lions side was squeezed out for just 51 runs in 12.2 overs. Avinash Bohora took 3-5 from three overs, while Sunil Sunar and Robeen Chhetri also picked up two wickets each for the winners. None of the Lions batsmen managed to reach double figures.

Earlier, Shubhendu Pandey held the Mahakali innings together scoring run-a-ball 45. Pandey’s knock included six boundaries and one maximum. Man-of-the-match Chhetri also starred with the bat with 19-ball 29 not out that included two sixes and a boundary. Bohora contributed unbeaten 12-ball 18. Ranjeet Mukhiya took three wickets for Lions.