Kathmandu Knights kicked off their campaign in the Nepal T20 League with a 26-run victory over Pokhara Avengers on Saturday.
Knights restricted Avengers to 136/7 in 19.0 overs to register a comfortable victory. Sharad Vesawkar-led Avengers side failed to reach the target of 163 runs.
Srilankan Upul Tharanga, their opener made the highest score of 44 runs off 34 balls. He hit six boundaries. Aarif Sheikh contributed run-a-ball 20 runs, and Abhimanyu Mithun managed 18 runs from 10 balls, including two sixes. Abinash Bohara clinched three scalps while Basir Ahamad grabbed two wickets.
Earlier, Avengers chose to field first after winning the toss. The bowlers made the best out of the pitch as the Knights were pushed back with quick wickets. In the 9th over, Knights lost their half-side for only 48 runs, however, Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai counter-attacked and made a match-winning knock of 85 from 42 balls. He hit three boundaries and seven sixes to help his side to reach 162/5 in 19.0 overs.
Omarzai shared a match-winning 100-run stand for the sixth wicket with Sunam Gautam. Gautam managed 27 runs off 28 balls with two boundaries.
Pratis GC and Zahir Khan shared two wickets apiece.
