Tuesday 21st January 2025
Nepal’s big-budget twenty20 cricket franchise trophy Everest Premier League 2018 (EPL 2018) began at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on December 08, 2018.
The 15-day tournament will see six Nepali cricket teams- Kathmandu Kings, Lalitpur Patriots, Pokhara Rhinos, Chitwan Tigers, Biratnagar Warriors, and Bhairahawa Gladiators.
Everest Premier League 2018 Highlights
#Day13 (Dec 22):
Finals: Lalitpur Patriots Win #EPL2018 Title!
The grand finale of the country’s highest-budget T20 cricket league #EPL2018 has taken a grand ending at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on December 22, 2018.
The final match of the third edition of #EverestPremierLeague series saw Lalitpur Patriots winning the #EPL2018Title, marking the team’s maiden victory in the EPL history. The last match of the #EPLTournament on December 22, 2018 was held between Lalitpur Patriots and Bhairahawa Gladiators.
Gladiators won the toss and chose to field first. Patriots, who began batting first, scored 155 runs in 19.1 overs for the loss of all wickets.
Jaykishan Anilbhai Kolsawala stood as the highest scorer of Patriots team with 57 runs, followed by Sandeep Jhora, Gaurav Yudhveer Tomar, Kushal Bhurtel and Gyanendra Malla, who scored 24,23,11 and 10 runs, respectively.
Gladiators began their batting innings on high confidence but failed to reach the set target. The team completely collapsed at 141 runs for the loss of nine wickets, even after playing all the 20 overs.
Patriots bowlers performed their best in stopping the Gladiators across the innings. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi claimed the highest wickets of all (3) smashing important players, Sharad Vesawkar and Mohammad Naveed. Yogendra Singh Karki and Pawan Sarraf also managed to take two wickets each securing the team’s success.
Raj Bhanshi won the ‘Player of the Match’ title and Ravi Inder Singh of Gladiators was announced the ‘Player of the Series’.
#Day12 (Dec 20):
Qualifier-2: Kathmandu Kings XI Vs Bhairahawa Gladiators
Next to the eliminator round arrived the Qualifier-2 match of #EPL2018 between Kathmandu Kings XI and Bhairahawa Gladiators.
The match began with Kings batting first after the Gladiators choice to field.
Beginning with Shrestha and Rohan Mustafa as openers, the Kings XI team managed to score 100 runs in 20 overs for the loss of all wickets. S Rajali (27 runs in 26 balls), P Sahu (25 runs in 22 balls) and A Shrestha (13 runs in 32 balls) led the team’s batting innings with minimum double-digit scores. While, the rest scored only single-digits with Lohani remaining to be a not-out.
Gladiators had a 100-run target, but they did not take much time to finish off that. With striking performances by RN ten Doeschate (45 runs in 38 balls) and Inder Singh (31 runs in 19 balls), the team reached the target easily in 17 overs, by scoring 102 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.
Kushal Malla was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ title. With this win, Gladiators advanced to finals.
#Day11 (Dec 19):
Eliminator: Gladiators Win, Tigers Loose!
After the exciting Qualifier-1 on December 18, 2018, EPL 2018 series with back with the second qualifier round that paves way for the #EPL2018Finals.
Bhairahawa Gladiators and Chitwan Tigers played the eliminator match. Gladiators won the toss and chose to field first.
Tigers began the innings with Stirling and Sunar as openers. The match began with a slow start by Stirling who scored 14 runs in 7 balls. Though the team continued with the same pace till fourth batsman in the order, DS Airee changed the game all together by scoring 56 runs in 45 balls. However, the rest managed with only single-digit scores. The team finally finished at 139 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
Then the Gladiators stepped in! Beginning with a sounding performance by PS Airee, who scored 42 runs in 38 balls, the team went on to win the team despite single-digit performances by others in the order. The team smashed the target in 18.2 overs by scoring 142 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. S Vesawkar (29 runs in 27 balls), RK Paudel (24 runs in 11 balls) and Kaushal Malla (27 balls in 13 balls) were the other top-scorers of the team.
P Airee stood as the ‘Player of the Match’ and Gladiators advanced to the finals.
#Day10 (Dec 18):
Qualifiee-1: Kathmandu Kings XI Vs Lalitpur Patriots
Riding high on confidence drawn from the round-robin league matches held over the past nine days, Kings and Patriots faced each other for Qualifier-1 round of the Everest Premier League 2018 on December 18, 2018.
Lalitpur Patriots won the toss and chose to field first and the match began with Kings batting first.
With Rohan Mustafa and A Shrestha as openers, Kings began their innings on a medium pace with Rohan scoring 32 runs in 20 balls and the other managing with just single-digit score. Sagar Pun, next in the batting order, scored 29 runs in 30 balls and giving further hopes of scoring better. But, the next in the batting line-up disappointed the team with their single-digit scores till the end. Finally, Kings ended at a 108 runs in 19.5 overs for the loss of all wickets showing a 5.44 run rate.
Then came in the Patriots! Despite a slow start with single-digit scores, the team managed to win the race with the amazing performances by Malla (21 runs in 22 balls), Bhurtel (29 runs in 27 balls), Karki (28 runs in 29 balls). The rest managed to make only single-digit scores. Karki and Rajbhansi remained not-out. Finally, the Patriots registered their victory finishing the target with one extra run i.e., 109 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets, at a 5.45 run rate. Karki of Patriots team was announced the ‘Player of the Match’.
With this win in the Qualifier round, Patriots advanced to the finals of the #EPL2018 and Kings will have to play the Qualifier-2 round on December 20, 2018.
#Day9 (Dec 17):
Biratnagar Warriors Vs Kathmandu Kings XI
The second match of the EPL 2018 #Day8 was an intense battle between Biratnagar Warriors and Kathmandu Kings XI.
Kathmandu Kings won the toss and elected to field first. Warriors began their batting innings Paras Khadka and AK Sah as openers, each scoring 21 runs in 16 balls and 6 runs in 8 balls, respectively. The team continued a slow pace further until S Maharajan who scored 25 runs in 23 balls and H B Chauhan who scored 22 runs in 23 balls. The rest again continued on single digits and the last two ended with zero runs. The team finished at 100 runs for the loss of all wickets in 17.5 overs.
Kings also took the similar time with a slow-paced batting. However, finished the target in 17.5 overs with an amazing batting performance by KJ’ Obrien who scored 45 runs in 43 balls, followed by Sahu who scored 21 runs in 23 balls who stood as the second highest scorer of the team. Finally, the team crossed the set target and scored 106 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Kevin O’Brien was the ‘Player of the Match’.
#Day8 (Dec 16):
Bhairahawa Gladiators Vs Lalitpur Patriots
Patriots won the toss and chose to field first and Gladiators began their batting innings.
Mohammad Naveed and Airee began the Gladiators batting innings with single-digit scores. However, the next two in the batting order, Inder Singh and Doeschate, gave little push with 25 runs in 15 balls and 37 runs in 36 balls, respectively. All the next players in the line-up finished only with single-digit scores. Finally, the Gladiators team finished at 92 runs in 19 overs for the loss of all wickets at a 4.84 run rate.
Patriots began their batting innings with GY Tomar and Kolsawala. Although Tomar made only single-digit score, Kolsawala took ahead the spirit with 22 runs in 27 balls. The rest, other than Sarraf who scored 25 runs in 36 balls, finished only with single-digit scores, driving the team to victory. Finally, the team’s score was 96 runs beating out the set target of 92 runs, for the loss of 4 wickets in 14.2 overs.
Sunny Patel of Patriots was the ‘Player of the Match’ and this match Patriots two more points in the series.
#Day7 (Dec 15):
Bhairahawa Gladiators Vs Kathmandu Kings XI
Day 7 was the Kings XI day!
It all began with Kathmandu Kings winning the toss and choosing to field first. Gladiators began their batting innings on a slow pace as the openers PS Airee and H Shah disappointed the team with nil and single-digit scores. Then came Inder Singh who scored 86 runs (in 61 balls), giving the team a hope to proceed further. Inder Singh continued as a not-out with the next two batsmen Doeschate and Vesawkar, till the end of the team’s batting innings that concluded at 149 runs for the loss of four wickets at 7.45 run rate.
Then the Kings XI stepped into the ground with 149-run target ahead. A Shrestha and Rohan Mustafa resumed the innings with high confidence, as seen in their scores, 51 runs (46 balls) and 36 runs (24 balls), respectively. Sagar Pun came next and finished at 13 runs in 22 balls. Then followed O’Brien (33 runs in 15 balls) and Budayair (4 runs in 8 balls) driving the team to success. The team finished at 153 runs in 19.1 overs at the run rate of 9.78, winning the match.
Amit Shrestha won the ‘Player of the Match’ title and the Kings team garnered 2 more points with this match.
Pokhara Rhinos Vs Chitwan Tigers
Tigers led the second part of the day with a seven-wicket victory over Rhinos!
The match began with Rhinos batting first. Coetzer and Bhandari, who stepped in as openers, gave a decent start with the duo scoring 23 runs in 17 balls and 27 runs in 36 balls, respectively. The third one in the order, Dhamala give more hope to the team by scoring 51 runs in 42 balls although the next scored only single-digits. Finally, the team finished their innings with 129 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets.
Tigers began with an amazing performance by opener Stirling, who scored 55 runs in 46 balls. Though the next three scored less, Airee took the pace to next level with 54 runs in 46 balls. Airee drove the team to success in partnership with Scott who also remained not-out. Tigers hit the victory target by scoring 134 runs in 19 overs for the loss of just three wickets at the 7.05 run rate.
The 20-over match Airee as the ‘Player of the Match’ and his Chitwan Tigers getting 2 new points.
#Day6 (Dec 14):
Pokhara Rhinos Vs Kathmandu Kings XI
Second match of the day was between Pokhara Rhinos Vs Kathmandu Kings XI. ‘
Kings won the toss but chose to field first. Rhinos began their batting with RE Levi and KJ Coetzer as openers. The duo went on with their encouraging performance that in fact balanced the overall team score. Levi scored 38 runs in 21 balls and Coetzer with 37 runs in 25 balls.
Dhamal who batted next disappointed with a single-digit score of 9 runs. P Coughlin stepped in and stood as the team’s next highest-scorer of 37 runs in 38 balls. Rest of the batsmen managed it with single-digit scores. Overall, the Kings team scored 165 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 6 wickets, with 8.25 run rate.
The Kings team that batted next began a striking performance by its opener Rohan Mustafa who scored 40 runs in 31 balls. Though the next two in the batting line-up satisfied with lesser two-digit scores, the team got hopes with the entry of KJ O’Brien who scored 54 runs in 35 balls taking the strike rate to 154.28. O’Brien continued his partnership with the next players and drove the team to success. The team finally smashed the set target by scoring 166 runs in 19.2 overs for the loss of only four wickets. O’Brien and S Lohani remained not-out!
KJ O’Brien was announced the ‘Player of the Mach’.
Chitwan Tigers Vs Biratnagar Warriors
#Day5 of the Everest Premier League 2018 started with the Chitwan Tigers Vs Biratnagar Warriors fight. Warriors won the toss and chose to field first and Chitwan Tigers went on with batting.
The Tigers team began a slow start with PR Stirling and Sunar scoring 15 runs (23 balls) and 30 runs (in 22 balls), respectively. Then the match took a different turn with the performance of the next two in the batting line-up i.e. JA Simpson and DS Airee.
JA Simpson exhibited a sounding performance scoring 78 runs in 44 balls. Whereas, Airee scored 32 runs in 22 balls. Then came GFB Scott who scored 24 runs in 10 balls and remained not-out till the end.
Tigers finally finished with 196/4 score in 20 overs for the loss of four wickets with Simpson as the top-scorer, at a run rate of 9.8.
Then, the Warriors stepped in with Paras Khadka and AK Sah as openers. The duo ended up with double-digit scores of 19 and 12 runs, respectively. Then came Babar Hayat who lifted the team spirit by scoring 90 runs in 42 balls.
Even though Aassif Sheikh could balance the track with 30 runs, the next batting order failed to do so. Eventually, the team lost to Tigers at 191/8 in 20 overs. However, Warriors registered a higher run rate of 9.5 than Tigers.
Lalit Bhandari of Tigers was the ‘Player of the Match’
#Day5 (Dec 12):
Biratnagar Warriors Vs Bhairahawa Gladiators
The fifth day of the EPL 2018 tournament began with the Biratnagar Warriors Vs Bhairahawa Gladiators match. The 20-over match began with Gladiators winning the toss and choosing to field.
Warriors then began their batting line-up with Paras Khadka and AK Sah as openers. However, the openers disappointed the team with their weak, single-digit scores. That continued till Roelof Van Der Merwe who scored 25 runs in 29 balls. Karan KC is the next highest scorer with 18 runs in 15 balls, followed by S Maharajan who scored 15 runs in 14 balls.
Finally, Warriors finished at 91 runs in 18.4 overs for the loss of all wickets.
Gladiators started their batting performance on a slow pace, but finally finished the target scoring 92 runs in 19.4 overs for the loss of 6 wickets. Ryan ten Doeschate wicket scored the highest of all with 20 runs in 33 balls, followed by three other batsmen who scored double-digits and four other batsmen who scored single digits.
Mohammad Naveed was the ‘Player of the Match’ in this match that gave two points to Gladiators.
Kathmandu Kings XI Vs Lalitpur Patriots
The second match of the Day 5 of EPL 2018 saw intense battle between Kathmandu Kings XI and Lalitpur Patriots. The 20-over match began with Kings winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Despite a slow start, Kings team managed it to score 109 runs in 19.5 overs for the loss of all wickets. Performance by KJ O’Brien stood as the highlight from Kings team as he scored 42 runs in 33 balls. S Lohani stands next in the highest score list with 21 runs in 25 balls, among others who scored only single digits.
Patriots began their innings with 110 runs as the target in 20 overs. The team went on with pace at the first instance with openers alone finishing off the set target in just 10.3 overs. JS Kolsawala and Tomar stepped onto the ground and went on with their dashing performance. Tomar stood as the highest scorer with 80 runs in 35 balls, followed by Kolsawala who made 27 runs in 28 balls. The duo drove the team to success scoring 6 runs ahead the set target, finishing at 115 runs in 10.5 overs without losing even a single wicket.
The match gave 2 points to Patriots and ‘nil’ for Kings team. Pawan Saraff was the ‘Player of the Match’.
#Day4 (Dec 11):
Pokhara Rhinos Vs Biratnagar Warriors
The #Day4 of the EPL 2018 series on December 11, 2018, began with the match between Pokhara Rhinos and Biratnagar Warriors. Biratnagar Warriors won the toss and chose to field first. Pokhara Rhinos began its batting line-up with RE Levi and KV Coetzer.
Though the openers made a slow start, the pace picked up little with the entry of P Coughlin who scored 20 runs in 27 balls, who scored the highest of all followed by RP Magar (17 runs in 35 balls). Finally, the team ended up at 84 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 7 wickets.
Warriors began their batting and to everyone’s surprise, they too finished at the same 84 runs in 19.3 overs for the loss of all wickets. However, Warriors won the match by finishing the target as a one-over eliminator. Karan KC of Warriors team stood as the ‘Player of the Match’ that gave 2 points for Warriors and ‘nil’ for Rhinos.
Bhairahawa Gladiators Vs Chitwan Tigers
The second match of the day was Bhairahawa Gladiators Vs Chitwan Tigers. Chitwan Tigers won the toss and chose to field first.
Gladiators began their batting line-up with Airee and Kushal Malla who scored 26 runs in 18 balls and 3 runs in 12 balls. The team got a little push with the entry of third and fourth batsmen, Inder Singh (25 runs in 21 balls) and Ten Doeschate (35 runs in 25 balls). Likewise, the struggle continued till the team ended up at 143 runs at 19.3 overs for the loss of all wickets.
Then began the batting line-up of Chitwan Tigers. Despite a fresh start with Stirling scoring 38 runs in 23 balls, the team went on to see falling line-up with just single-digit scores apart from two-digits by only three batsmen before completely falling down at 131 runs in complete 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets.
Eventually, Gladiators won the match adding two more points to their account. Ryan ten Doeschate was the ‘Player of the Match’ that saw Gladiators earning 2 more points and ‘nil’ for Chitwan Tigers.
#Day3 (Dec 10):
Chitwan Tigers Vs Kathmandu Kings XI
The third day of the #EPL2018 saw Chitwan Tigers and Kathmandu Kings XI (KK XI) challenging each other in a 20-over match. Chitwan Tigers chose to bat first and ended at 160 all-out within 19.5 overs with just an 8.8 run rate.
Then began the striking performance of Kathmandu Kings XI, who finished the target at 161 runs in 20 overs for the loss of just 4 wickets. Subramanian Anand of KK XI drove the team to victory with his winning performance of 43 runs in 18 balls at 238.88 strike rate and stood not-out.
Sagar Pun and Shrestha were other top performers of the KK XI team. Subramanian Anand won the ‘Player of the Match’ title in this match that gave 2 points for Kings and ‘nil’ for Tigers.
Pokhara Rhinos Vs Lalitpur Patriots
Choosing to bat first, Pokhara Rhinos scored 166 runs in 20 overs at a 8.3 run rate with a dashing performance by RE Levi who scored 84 runs in 39 balls and others.
Patriots’ bowling performance, especially of Bipin Khatri and P Coughlin who took three wickets each, could stop the Rhinos at what they are destined for. But, that did not much time for Patriots to finish the target as they stepped in to bat.
Amazing performances by GY Tomar (82 runs in 41 balls) and JA Kolsawala (51 runs in 38 balls) was a highlight in the Patriots’ batting line-up garnered the team a major score, helping the team to finish off the target in just 15.5 overs.
Supported the duo’s score, the Patriots smashed the Rhinos’ target and went ahead at 177 runs for the loss of only two wickets. Patriots chased the challenge at a batting run rate of 10.8. Gaurav Tomar of Patriots stood as ‘Player of the Match’ that saw Patriots earning 2 points and ‘nil’ for Rhinos.
Lalitpur Patriots Vs Chitwan Tigers
The second day of the tournament saw intense battle between Lalitpur Patriots and Chitwan Tigers. Patriots were in hunger for victory after a defeat by Biratnagar Warriors, the previous day. So, that gave them energy to fight out Tigers on December 09, 2018. Choosing to bat first upon toss, Patriots scored 143 runs at the loss of five wickets in the 20-over match.
Sonu Tamang remained a not-out with 35 runs, followed by Gaurav Tamor (30), Sandip Jora (25) and other best scorers of the team. Coming to bowling, it was again Sandeep Lamichhane’s game with the spinner claiming three wickets and was also named the ‘Player of the Match’.
Tigers couldn’t face this pressure and failed at 132 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, losing out to Patriots. This 11-run win against Tigers gave Patriots a winning start in the tournament that earned them 2 points and ‘nil’ for Tigers!
Bhairahawa Gladiators Vs Pokhara Rhinos
The second day of #EPL2018 also saw the Gladiators-Rhinos match, where Gladiators registered a 4-wicket victory win against Rhinos. Rhinos scored 215 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Then Gladiators stepped in to bat and finished the 215-run target at the loss of 6 wickets, with two balls still left in the match.
Ravi Inder Singh of Gladiators registered a sounding performance in the match with a maiden century in the tournament. Singh scored 125 runs in 60 balls claiming 8 boundaries and 10 sixers. Singh and Aarif Sheikh made a 111-run partnership driving Gladiators to victory.
Ravi Inder Singh was the ‘Player of the Match’ that gave 2 points to Gladiators and ‘nil’ to Rhinos.
Biratnagar Warriors Vs Lalitpur Patriots
The tournament began on December 08, 2018, with Biratnagar Warriors taking on Lalitpur Patriots. The very first match of the series saw Warriors winning over Patriots by three wickets. Patriots, led by Gyanendra Malla, chose to bat first and scored 104-9 in 20 overs.
That wasn’t a tough challenge for Warriors, who finished the target at a loss of seven wickets, with one ball remaining.
Though the Warriors team lost seven wickets to score 73 runs, it was Nepal’s all-rounder Karan KC and The Netherlands’ Paul van Meekeren who drove the team to success. Karan KC stood as the ‘Man of the Match’ who finished it at 36-runs in just 19 balls and remained not out.
At the end of this match, Warriors won 2 points and Patriots ended up with ‘nill’.
Stay Tuned for More Updates on Everest Premier League 2018…
