Sports
Airee’s solid knock stuns Paltan
Dipendra Singh Airee pulled his team from the jaws of defeat with scintillating knock as Dhangadhi Blues stunned Pokhara Paltan by two wickets to remain in contention for the top three-spot of the Pokhara Premier League on Friday.Adarsha Dhakal
Dipendra Singh Airee pulled his team from the jaws of defeat with scintillating knock as Dhangadhi Blues stunned Pokhara Paltan by two wickets to remain in contention for the top three-spot of the Pokhara Premier League on Friday.
The win lifted Blues to second position in the points table after its last league game. But its progress to the next round largely depend on how the last day of the league stage fares. Blues is tied on points with table-topper Kathmandu Royals on six points but trails on net run rate. On Saturday, Pokhara Paltan will take on Royals and Biratnagar Titans will play Chitwan Rhinos to determine the top three teams. The team finishing first will directly play in the final, while the second and third-placed sides will clash in the Eliminator to fix title clash.
Blues’ successful chase was the major talking points of the day. Blues appeared to be coasting towards victory with No 3 batsman Peter Trego scoring a half century before excellent bowling spell from Rashid Khan turned the match upside down. Put in to bat, Paltan managed 144-8 in 20 overs. Blues replied with 148-8 in 19.5 overs thanks to a late flurry from skipper Dipendra Singh Airee.
Trego kept Blues in the chase putting on 54 runs for the second wicket with Shubhendu Pandey (22). But after Lalit Rajbanshi dismissed Trego, Blues went on to lose six wickets for 27 runs and were on the brink of defeat at 111-8 in 16.3 overs. But Airee put on an unbroken 37-run stand with Robeen Chhetri (0) to help his side pull off a stunning win. Blues needed 14 runs from the last over from Mehboob Alam. who started with a wide leaving himself with 13 to defend.
Airee hit a six in the first legal delivery as Blues needed seven to win from five. A couple in the second ball meant they needed five from four. Airee failed to score in the third ball but struck two consecutive boundaries in the next two deliveries to ignite a wild celebrations in the Blues camp. Airee was left unbeaten on 49 with four fours and four sixes, while Trego contributed 53 off 34 with five fours and four sixes. Khan took 4-24. Rajbanshi and Bikram Bhushal took two apiece.
Earlier, Rohit Kumar Paudel top scored for Paltan with a 21-ball 31 hitting four boundaries and a six. Ravi Inder Singh (28) and Aasif Sheikh (23) were other batsman to put notable score on the board. Kamal Singh Airee took 4-23 for Blues.
Summaries
Dhangadhi Blues 148-8 in 19.5 overs (P Trego 53, DS Airee 49*; R Khan 4-24, B Bhusal 2-21, L Rajbanshi 2-36) beat Pokhara Paltan 144-8 in 20 overs (R Paudel 31, RI Singh 28; KS Airee 4-23, P Trego 1-11) by two wickets
Man-of-the-match: DS Airee
Kathmandu Royals 172-4 in 20 overs (N Budayair 58*, J Kolsawal 45; B Khatri 2-29, S Sheikh 1-26) beat Butwal Blasters 135-9 in 20 overs (R Mustafa 61; A Routela 3-23, N Yadav 2-15, B Regmi 2-20) by 37 runs
Man-of-the-match: N Budayair