Lamichhane begins BPL with bang

Kathmandu, January 6

Nepali star leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane made an impressive Bangladesh Premier League debut with Sylhet Sixers albeit he fell in the losing side in Dhaka on Sunday.

Lamichhane returned with the figures of 2-16 from four overs but that was not enough for his side to stop Comilla Victorians from chasing down 128-run target. Batting first, the Sixers posted 127-8 in 20 overs in which Lamichhane remained unbeaten on one off two balls he faced.

Sixers skipper David Warner introduced Lamichhane in the eighth over and the Nepali star began his BBL debut by conceding five runs. After giving away three runs in his second over and bowling two consecutive wide balls to begin his third over — 13th of the match — Lamichhane got his maiden wicket in the last ball when he had Shoaib Malik caught by Sabbir Rahman at midwicket. He conceded seven runs in that over but he helped Sixers reduce Victorians to 75-4.

Lamichhane struck again in the second ball of his last over. He bowled Anamul Haque for five with a googly. He then bowled four dot balls to Shahid Afridi to end his spell. Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies was the top scorer with 26-ball 41. Mohammad Sahid and Mohammad Saifuddin took two wickets each for Victorians.

In reply, the Victorians reached 130-6 in 19.5 overs. Former Pakistani skipper ShahidA fridi struck five fours and two sixes in his 25-ball 39 not out, while Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal scored 35 off 34 balls. Apart from Lamichhane, Bangladeshi bowler Al-Amin Hossain also took two wickets for Sixers.