Chauraha stunned Attariya in the Super Over to claim Dhangadi Cricket League (DCL)-3 title at the SP grounds on Saturday.

In a pulsating final watched by a vibrant crowd, Chauraha staged a remarkable comeback to deny what looked like a casual walk on the park for Attariya. Electing to bat first, Chauraha made 146-9 in 20 overs. Attariya were cruising in their chase at 114-1 at one stage but a terrible collapse saw them getting restricted to 146-9 in 20 overs pushing the match into the Super Over.

Attariya, who sent explosive batsmen Binod Bhandari, Mehboob Alam and Prem Tamang to bat in the Super Over, could only manage three runs from Yogendra Karki’s over. Bhuwan Karki stepped in and hit Alam for a boundary in the second ball to spark a wild celebration in Chauraha dug out. 

The tournament, which preceded by Nepal’s first ever auction of players, gave away Rs 300,000 to the champions. Runners-up Attariya took home Rs 150,000.

It was Attariya chase that sent shiver down the spine as they threw away the title from a comfortable position. Tamang gave a solid start to Attariya chase with a 67-run stand for the first wicket in 10.1 overs with Shailesh Khadayat (seven). 

Khadayat dismissal hardly mattered as Alam stepped in and hit some blazing shots on his way to sharing 47-run partnership for the second wicket with Tamang. Yogendra then triggered the collapse dislodging the bails of Alam in the 14th over.

lam hit three sixes and as many fours in his 13-ball 33. 

Bhuwan then marked his day with the prized scalp of Tamang. Tamang, who was later named the man-of-the-final, made 54-ball 63 with seven fours and three sixes. With a strong batting line-up to deal with, Chauraha still had a long way to go and spinner Aman Panthi struck with a perfect timing. 

Panthi removed Surendra Chand (one) and Gyanendra Kunwar (duck) in two balls reducing Attariya to 115-5 in 15.2 ovres. With dangerous Bhandari still in the crease, Bhuwan had him caught by Panthi and three balls later Sonu Tamang bowled Puran Thapa for a duck as the scores read 119-7 in 17.1 overs.

Naresh Bohora kept Attariya in the chase with a 21-run stand for the eighth wicket with Hikmat Shetty. But under pressure, Shetty (four) and Nabin Bhandari (six) ran themselves out as the match got tied. Bohora was stranded on 17 from 16 with two fours and a six. 

Earlier, Chauraha lost openers Padam KC (seven) and Sonu Tamang (10) to Surendra Chand at 21-2. Yogendra and Dipendra Thapa then pushed them towards triple figures with a 59-run stand for the third wicket. Thapa made 37 off 40 with five fours and a six. 

Yogendra chipped in a 13-ball 26 with four fours and a six. Both batsmen fell to Tamang. Bipin Rawal pushed Chauraha close to 150 with a 25-ball 20, while they also got 24 extra runs. Sandeep Jora made 11 off six with a six and a four. Chand took 4-20 from four overs. 

Santosh Bhatt of Campus Road was adjudged the man-of-the-series and he walked with a cash prize of Rs 50,000. A total of five teams — franchises named after famous places of Dhangadi — participated in the tournament organised by Dhangadi Cricket Academy.