Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Debutant David Miller’s unbeaten 93 off 55 balls went in vain as Karnali Yaks suffered a 39-run defeat to Sudurpaschim Royals in the Nepal Premier League (NPL) on Friday.
Asked to bat first after losing the toss, Sudurpaschim scored 176 for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, Karnali were all out for 137.
Sudurpaschim’s opening pair of Binod Bhandari (27) and Saif Zaib (35) added 68 runs for the first wicket. Brandon McMullen scored a 16-ball 24. Although Sudurpaschim lost captain Dipendra Singh Airee (10), Ishan Pandey scored 23 and Aarif Sheikh contributed 11 runs to the total. Tharindu Ratnayake scored an unbeaten 22, while Scott Kuggeleijn remained not out on 13.
Mark Watt picked up two wickets for Karnali, while Nandan Yadav, Hussain Talat and Surya Tamang claimed a wicket each.
Karnali made a mess of the chase, losing openers Ariful Islam for a duck and Mark Watt for four. Deepak Dumre scored 18 off 12 balls. David Miller, playing his first NPL match, scored an unbeaten 93 off 55 balls. He hit five fours and seven towering sixes, including four in the final over bowled by Ishan Pandey.
Miller, however, found little support at the other end as Pawan Sarraf fell for five, Hussain Talat made one, Sompal Kami contributed eight and Gulan Jha was out for three. Nandan Yadav remained not out on five. Seven Karnali batters failed to reach double digits.
Scott Kuggeleijn picked up two wickets for Sudurpaschim, while Hemant Dhami, Anil Kharel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Tharindu Ratnayake and Abinash Bohara claimed a wicket each.
The win lifted the Royals to second in the standings with six points from five matches. Karnali, meanwhile, dropped to fourth with four points from as many matches.
