Santwana College and White House College won their respective matches of the Expert College Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on Saturday. 

A star-studded Santwana crushed St Xavier’s College by 111 runs after posting a mammoth 217-4 in 20 overs. White House, meanwhile, edged Nepal Tourism and Hotel Management College (NTHMC) by seven runs. The victories saw both teams sail into the quarter-finals. 

Santwana’s dominating performance was the highlight of the day as they restricted St Xavier’s to 106-7 in 20 overs. Anup Neupane made a 22-ball 29 with five fours for St Xavier’s with Srijendra Bajracharya (21) and Bibhatsu Thapa (21) their remaining batsmen to reach double figures. Avinash Karn and Rajesh Pulami picked up two wickets each for Santwana. 

Earlier, Santwana’s dominating display was the highlight of the day after they got off to a strong start with openers Prakash Bista and Naresh Budhayer (21) beginning with a 41-run stand. Bista, who made 35 off 28 with three fours and a six, also shared 68-run partnership with Hashim Ansari. After his departure, Ansari and Pulami shared 51 runs for the third wicket. 

Ansari smashed seven fours and a six in his 33-ball 51 but his departure did not impact Santwana. Pulami went on to add another 56 runs with Pushpa Thapa (20 not out) to guide his team to a huge total. Man-of-the-match Pulami hit four sixes and as many fours in a 31-ball 58. 

In the first match, White House managed 153-8 with a late onslaught from Sameer Nepal. NTHMC mustered 146-7. Ramnaresh Giri did the damage in NTHMC middle order picking up 3-33 from four overs. NTHMC were 43-4 before Rijan Prajoo and Anupam Singh put the team in chase with a 53-run stand. 

Singh made a 38-ball 39 and Rijan Prajoo top scored with a 30-ball 42 and their dismissal was the end of NTHMC challenge. Both batsmen hit four fours and a six each. Ishan Singh Baniya made 23-ball 25 with three fours. 

White House didn’t have the best of the start after they were reduced to 68-5 in 12.5 overs before Nepal lifted the total with a quick fire 42 off 24 clubbing three each sixes and boundaries. Opener Rit Gautam (23), Pawan Sarraf (20) and Nasruddin Ansari (20) were other notable scorers. Amrit Gurung, Prajoo and Raju Gurung took two wickets each for NTHMC.