Kathmandu. Janakpur Bolts defeated Pokhara Avengers by 9 runs in the third edition of Nepal Premier League (NPL) underway in Kathmandu. This is Janakpur’s second win. Janakpur has climbed to the second position with 4 points from 3 matches. Pokhara, which lost its second consecutive match, is at the bottom.

Chasing the target of 148 runs, Pokhara could only score 138 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Captain Kushal Bhurtel scored the highest 35 runs. Moin Ali took 3 wickets for Janakpur, while captain Harmeet Singh and Saif Hasan took 2÷2 wickets.

Earlier, at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Janakpur, who lost the toss and elected to bat first, scored 147 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs. Trit Raj Das scored 61 runs in the half-century.

He also became the sixth player to score a half-century in the ongoing tournament. Abhishesh Tiwari scored 24 runs and Moin Ali scored 21 runs. Shakib Al Hasan took 3 wickets and Chamika Karunaratne took 2 wickets for Pokhara.

Two matches will be played tomorrow. The first match will be played at 12:00 noon with Kathmandu Gorkhas and Karnali Yaks while the second match will be played at 5:00 pm.