Paras Khadka's team clinches Everest Premier League title after a nail biting finish

The second edition of the Everest Premier League ended with Biratnagar Warriors claiming the title. The tournament featured six teams from Nepal. The final was fought between Biratnagar Warriors and Bairahawa Gladiators in Kirtipur.

Batting first, Biratnagar were off to a slow start. Opener Aasif Sheikh was dismissed cheaply. The leading run scorer of the tournament, Babar Hayat also failed to make much of a difference. However, Anshuman Rath played a responsible knock scoring 41 (41).

Skipper Paras Khadka also displayed some tremendous form with Anil Shah and the duo made a useful contribution. However, they kept losing wickets regularly which restricted their scoring rate. The Biratnagar Warriors were restricted to a total of 149/7 in their quota of 20 overs.

Close chase

As for Bairahawa Gladiators, Harishanka Shah was the pick amongst the bowlers with amazing figures of 2/16. Krishna Karki also managed to pick a couple of wickets. Arif Sheikh and Sharad Vesawkar also grabbed a wicket each. On the other hand, Punit Mishra went wicketless in his four overs.

Chasing 150 runs wasn’t going to be easy. Despite losing an early wicket, Bairahawa were off to a sensational start. Pratham Salunke and Sharad Vesawkar combined for a splendid partnership of 68 runs for the second wicket. While Salunkhe was dismissed for 30 (27), skipper Vesawkar went on to hit a half century.

They were both dismissed while there was still a lot to be done in the chase, but the Bairahawa Gladiators still held the momentum. Requiring 20 runs from the last 3 overs, they were cruising towards a victory. However, the dismissal of Aarif Sheikh shifted the balance and they started losing wickets in a haste.

With 9 runs required from the last over, Anil Sha got three wickets as the Gladiators fell short of the target by just one run. Paras Khadka’s Biratnagar Warriors ended up clinching the EPL title in what was a nail-biting final.

Scores:

Biratnagar Warriors: 149 (Anshuman Rath 41, Harishankar Shah 2 for 16)

Bhairahawa Gladiators: 148 (Sharad Vesawkar 52, Paras Khadka 3 for 18)