Sudurpaschim Royals beat Chitwan Rhinos by five wickets in NPL

Sudurpaschim Royals beat Chitwan Rhinos by five wickets in the Nepal Premier League on Monday, completing a comfortable chase at the TU ground in Kirtipur.

Chitwan batted first after losing the toss and made 129 for six in their 20 overs. Ravi Bopara top scored for them with 49 from 40 balls, including three fours.

Chitwan were in trouble at 27 for two, but Bopara and Dawid Malan added 35 runs for the third wicket and steadied the innings. Vivek Kumar Yadav added 17 from 15 balls, with one four and one six, before he was run out on the final ball of the innings.

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In reply, Saif Zaib made 2 and Binod Bhandari made 11 as Sudurpaschim's openers. Brandon McMullen then joined Binod Bhandari and the pair added 31 runs for the second wicket to get the chase moving.

McMullen top scored for Sudurpaschim with 43 from 21 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes. Ishan Pandey made 25 from 29 balls and Arif Sheikh finished unbeaten on 20 from 26 balls.

When McMullen and captain Dipendra Singh Airee were out, Sudurpaschim were 70 for four and the match was still in the balance. Arif Sheikh and Sherfane Rutherford then stayed together and took their side to victory, adding an unbroken 28 runs, with Rutherford making 21 from 15 balls, reaching 131 for five in 16.4 overs.

With the ball, Ranjit Kumar was the most successful bowler for Chitwan, taking three wickets for 28 runs in four overs. Scott Kuggeleijn took two wickets for Sudurpaschim.

The win was Sudurpaschim's second of the season and took them to four points from four matches, moving them up to third place in the table. For Chitwan, it was a first defeat. They had beaten Biratnagar Kings in their opening match, while their second match was washed out by rain.