That's it from our coverage of this NPL match. Finally, the Bolts have registered their first win of the season. This is Mohammad Anab signing off on behalf of my colleagues Arjun Bhalla and Ashok Dayma. Cheers.
Wayne Parnell (Janakpur Bolts Captain): "Very happy with this win. Finally, got points on the board. Two more games are still left, but we will take one game at a time. Even when we lost the games this season, they were quite close. Excellent batting at the top by Maaz and Anil. Maaz took off the pressure from Anil by scoring boundaries, which gave Anil the time to get set and regain his form."
Anil Sah (Player of the Match): The Last couple of games were tough for us, but it happens in sports. We didn't have a great start to the tournament, but now we have our first win. I thought I had to take some rest; it wasn't my decision, but this franchise has given me a lot. They know better. I was happy to contribute as a captain, and I am happy to play just a batter."
Player of the Match: Anil Kumar Sah
Max Fours of the Match: Maaz Sadaqat
Energetic Player of the Match: Arjun Saud
Catch of the Match: Sanjay Krishnamurthi
Time for the post-game presentation!
2:38 PM IST, 2:53 PM Local Time: End of the match. A clinical performance from Janakpur Bolts. They win this game by six wickets with 15 balls left in the game. Bolts made Chitwan Rhinos' target of 177 runs look very easy. With this dominating performance, Bolts have registered their first victory of NPL 2025.
Chitwan enjoyed complete control after choosing to bat, with Dawid Malan and Arjun Saud putting on the team’s first century opening stand of the season. Both batters notched up their maiden fifties of the campaign and dismantled the Janakpur Bolts’ attack. To make matters worse for the fielding side, they dropped five catches, though Sanjay Krishnamurthi did pull off a brilliant effort to finally end the 112-run opening stand.
Following Saud’s dismissal, the Bolts clawed their way back at the backend of the innings, picking up four wickets overall. Malan fell for 80, falling short of a hundred with 10 balls left. But Chitwan still powered their way to a formidable 176/4, aided by Kushal Malla’s unbeaten late assault of 30. It became the third-highest total of the season and their biggest score this year.
The first innings wrapped up quite quickly as 17 out of the 20 overs were bowled by spinners.
In reply, Bolts started very aggressively right from the start. Young opening batter Maaz Sadaqat scored a majestic 63 (30) while the out-of-form batter Anil Sah made 61 off 36 balls. Interestingly, before the start of this game, it was announced that Sah has decided to leave the captaincy as he wants to focus more on his batting. Wayne Parnell will now be the skipper of Bolts for the remaining games.
Despite a couple of quick wickets in the 16th over, Bolts managed to register a victory with six wickets and 15 balls remaining.
Bolts have registered their first victory in their fifth outing. They move a spot up to the 7th position in the points table. Rhinos are placed at 4th position with 2 wins from 5 games.