Chitwan Rhinos dismantled Pokhara Avengers on Tuesday in the fifth match of the Nepal Premier League 2024 to earn back-to-back wins in the newly-minted competition. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Pokhara Avengers had won the toss and told the Chitwan Rhinos to bat first. Below are the playing XIs of both the sides.
Chitwan Rhinos Vs Pokhara Avengers Playing XI
Chitwan Rhinos: Hassan Eisakhil, Deepak Bohara, Luc Benkenstein, Kushal Malla (c), Ravi Bopra, Santosh Karki, Sharad Vesawkar, Amar Routela, Rijan Dhakal, Bipin Rawal (wk), Sohail Tanvir
Pokhara Avengers: Kushal Bhurtel (c) (wk), Kiran Thagunna, Sagar Dhakal, Narayan Joshi, Dinesh Kharel, Bas de Leede, Bipin Khatri, Marcus Critchley, Dilip Nath, Raymon Reifer, Michael Leask
Chitwan Rhinos started on a shaky note, losing three wickets in the powerplay. Captain Kushal Malla then combined with England veteran Ravi Bopara for a fourth wicket partnership of 68 runs. Malla departed for 38 off 23 and Bopara too soon joined his captain in the pavilion. Bopara got out for 51 from 38 balls and the Rhinos thus missed the final flourish. They ended up on 161/7 in 20 overs.
The total which looked decent, turned out to be too much for Pokhara Avengers. Player of the Match in Chitwan's first match, Sohail Tanvir gave a triple blow to Avengers in the very first over to set up the victory of his team.
Tanvir took three wickets in the opening over to demolish the top order of Pokhara. Nepal left-arm pacer Rijan Dhakal then picked up three more wickets in the fourth over of the chase to bury the game.
After 4 overs, Pokhara's score was seven for the loss of six wickets. The horror start could not be overturned as Pokhara kept losing wickets and ultimately got all out on 74. Uncapped English leg-spinner Luc Benkenstien too finished with three wickets to wrap things up.
Chitwan Rhinos thus won the match by 87 runs. This becomes their second win in the tournament in two matches. For Pokhara Avengers, this was their first game in the tournament and they lost it by a big margin.
