Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Janakpur Bolts have entered the final of the Nepal Premier League, defeating Karnali Yaks by two wickets in Qualifier 2 at the TU International Cricket Grounds on Thursday.
Batting first, Karnali Yaks scored 118 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Janakpur Bolts chased down the target for the loss of eight wickets with six balls to spare.
Karnali, which defeated Chitwan Rhinos in the Eliminator on Wednesday, made a slow start with the bat. It lost opener Jaykishan Kolsawala for 1 run. Although the other opener, Dev Khanal, scored 24 off 20 balls, other Karnali batters fell cheaply. Zeeshan Maqsood scored 12, William Bosisto hit 14 runs, and Chadwick Walton contributed 11. Gulshan Jha and Unish Thakuri scored 25 and 12, respectively, while the rest of the batters failed to reach double digits.
James Neesham, Lalit Rajbanshi, and Mohammad Mohsin took two wickets each for Janakpur, while Sher Malla and Harsh Thaker claimed a wicket each.
Janakpur’s batters struggled despite chasing a low score. Openers Shubh Kansakar and Aasif Sheikh scored 3 and 4, respectively, while Lahiru Milantha managed only three runs. Akash Tripathi scored 13, and Harsh Thaker contributed 17 before James Neesham played a gem of an innings, scoring 45 off just 17 balls. Janakpur came under pressure when it lost Mayank Yadav for 14 and Mohammad Mohsin for 1. However, Sher Malla scored an unbeaten 16 off 10 balls to take Janakpur home with an over to spare.
Bipin Sharma took three wickets for Karnali, while Sompal Kami, William Bosisto, and Zeeshan Maqsood claimed one wicket each.
The final off the NPL will be played on Saturday.
