Paro Bluemoon’s Kishen Ghalley scored his maiden half century and first in the tournament but all in vain as his team went down to True Warrior’s by five runs in the ongoing Bhutan T20 Smash 2022. True Warrior’s narrow victory over Paro Bluemoon CC has kept their hopes alive for the top two spots. In the first innings, Warrior’s opener Kinga Loday scored the highest individual score of 45 runs of 44 balls to help his team post 130 for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. Tarun Kumar came up with other noticeable score of 21 of 16 balls. Paro Bluemoon fast bowler Pema Wangchuk and Nabin Chettri were the pick of the bowlers with two wickets. Paro lost both their openers within the first two overs but it was wicket-keeper batsman Kishen Ghalley who churned the innings with 56 of 54 balls before getting bowled out in the 18th over off Kezang Nima during a critical moment of the game that saw True Warriors snatch a narrow win over the Paro Bluemoon. Hritesh Barman (17 of 20 balls) and Pema Wangchuk (17 of 9 balls) came up with other notable scores. True Warrior’s Kesang Nima was declared the man of the match.
Knights win a thriller against Wangdue
Thimphu Knights escaped yet another scare as they went on to beat Wangdue Radaps by two runs in the afternoon match of the ongoing Bhutan T20 Smash 2022. Knights skipper Tandin Wangchuk elected to bat first against a decent bowling side of Wangdue Radaps. However, the batting plan back fired as Knights lost opener Sanjog Chhetri in the second over and it was Radap’s top wicket taker Kencho Chophel. Kencho Chophel went on to get rid of skipper Tandin Wangchuk caught by Pema Loday the next ball as Knights were pushed to a state of bother. Wickets kept falling on one side where Tashi Tshering (33 of 33 balls) on the other side was the only batsman who seemed comfortable inside. Tashi was ultimately bowled out trying to increase the run rate before they were bundled up for 118 with five overs remaining. Barun Wakhley (15 of 8 balls) and Karma Dorji (15 of 10 balls) were the other notable contributors. Thimphu Knight’s speedster Barun started brilliantly bowling out Wangdue Radap’s main batsman Ram Chandra Mongar in the second over. Barun took only two more deliveries to claim his second wicket in the form of Tsheltrim Yoezer caught by wicket-keeper Sanjog. Thimphu Knight’s Dawa went on to pick Jigme Tenzin caught by Suman Pradhan to give Knight’s their third wicket in the third over. The next stand of Deki Phuntsho and Pema Dorji added 27 runs before skipper Tandin trapped Deki LBW. Radap’s opender Pema Dorji looked good for his 23 before he was run-out in the ninth over. Wangdue Radap’s kept losing wickets at a regular interval, however, Radap’c managed to pick up some important runs and occasional boundaries in between. Sangay Tenzin (18 of 27 balls) and Pema Loday (20 of 15 balls) started to threaten the Knights before Pema Loday was bowled by Kinley Penjor. At the end of 19 over Wangdue needed only 15 runs to win as Tashi Tshering was given the responsibility to bowl the final over. Sangay and Neten Dorji pushed the Knight’s double runs of the first two balls. Neten Dorji smartly placed the next ball towards deep cover for a boundary as the Radap’s needed three runs of the last ball which the batsman failed giving Knights their second win from three games. Barun Wakhley was declared the Player of the Match. With the win the Thimphu Knights are placed third on the points table.
Sajibul powers Gladiators to their second win
Leading the current stand for the highest run getter and player of the tournament table point, Druk Gladiator’s Sajibul Mai powers his team to a 5 wicket over the Paro Bluemoon Club to take them to the second position of the on-going Bhutan T20 Smash 2022 at Jigmethang cricket ground, Thimphu. Paro Bluemoon opener Tulsi Biswa and Sanjit Biswa started steadily scoring 39 runs opening partnership from six overs before Tulsi fell to Deepak Verma caught at slip by Sajibul Mai. Wicket-keeper batsman Kishen was sent back two overs later in a mix-up that caused him a run-out. New batsman Gem Tshering was stumped the first ball in the ninth over. Paro Bluemoon remaining batsman struggled as Sajibul Mai and Sahidul Islam kept troubling them ultimately completing the first innings at 137 for the loss of nine wickets from 20 overs. Druk Gladiators opener Vijay Sagar played the anchoring job for the team as he went on to score 47 of 47 balls before he was caught out by Pema Wangchuk of Sonam Tobgay’s bowling in the 17th over. Paro Bluemoon managed to get the wickets of Deepak Verma, Saha Alom and Aryan Verma but Sajibul Mai (44 of 24 balls) punished the drop catch errors from the Paro fielders as they went on to win the match by five wickets. Sajibul Mai was declared the Player of the match.
SKD All Stars down Radaps to take top spot
SKD All Stars oust Wangdue Radaps by 49 runs today at Jigmethang cricket ground, Thimphu to lead the points table of the ongoing Bhutan T20 Smash. Wangdue Radap’s were to blame themselves for the loss having restricted SKD All Stars earlier to chasable 137 all out in 20 overs. Wangdue Radap started brilliantly getting rid of SKD’s skipper Jigme N Dorji in the second over by a beauty of delivery from Kencho Chophel. Jigme’s opening partner Sanjeevan Rai didn’t last long as he was sent off by a beauty of a delivery from Wangdue’s pace sensation Pema Loday in the fifth over. It only took a delivery as new man Tshering Rigden was bowled out the very next ball by Pema Loday. The pace duo of Pema Loday and Kencho Chophel kept troubling the SKD batsmen with consistent line and length during which Kencho Chophel went on to get Tandin Wangdi caught at slips by Pema Dorji in the sixth over. Khendrup Jangchub (24 of 11 balls) and Tandin Penjor (22 of 27 balls) played a sensible innings adding 38 for the fifth wicket before Tandin Penjor was run out credit to a direct hit on the stumps from Ram Kumar Rai. SKD’S Jigme Wangchuk (33 of 29 balls) and Yowon Pradhan (29 of 22 balls) started to rebuilt the innings with some sensible batting playing mostly on the ground and getting the occasional boundary as the two went on to add 55 runs for the seventh wicket partnership before Wangdue’s quick Deki Phuntsho caused havoc through the SKD remaining batsmen and picking up the first hattrick of the tournament in Jigme Wangchuk, Yowon Pradhan and Bishal Ghalley in the seventh over. Pema Loday bowled Tashi Chophel in the 19th over to give Radaps 138 runs to chase. The second innings was all about SKD All Star as the Wangdue Radaps struggled to find any answers to SKD’s young pace attack. Radap’s skipper Ram Chandra Mongar was send back in the first over, caught by Sanjeevan in the slips off Tashi Chophel. Next batsman Tsheltrim Yoezer joined the skipper back in pavilion as he was bowled out with brilliant delivery from Tashi Chophel. Sangay Tenzin (19 runs) and Deki Phuntsho (13 runs) were the only notable run getters as rest of the batsman failed to score in double digits. Wangdue Radap’s were wrapped up for 88 as SKD All star win by 49 and take the top spot on the points table. SKD All Star pace sensation Tashi Chophel was named the player of the match.
True Warriors win a thriller
True Warriors registered their first win of the Bhutan T20 Smash 2022 edging pass Dantak by a narrow 3 runs and march forward in the tournament. Having lost their opening match to Druk Gladiators in the previously week True Warriors had to win to keep their hopes alive for the top two spot. It wasn’t the best start that True Warriors would have wanted losing Soenam Jamtsho to the third delivery of the first over to Vinay Singh. Sanjay Pradhan and Kinga Loday started to build the innings putting up 41 runs between them before Sanjay was bowled by Bhagat Singh. Kinga Loday looked good for his 41 of 32 balls before Pawan Mehta bowled him in the 12 over as the total score stood at 98 runs. Dantak’s speedster Vinay Singh came back for his second spell and got the better of Kelzang Nima who returned to the pavilion without troubling the score much. True Warrior’s Manish Giri on the other hand started to open up and play some blistering shots supported by Tarun Kumar from the other side. Manish Giri went on to score his first half century (61 of 31 balls) as True Warriors set a massive 188 runs target. Dantak’s Vinay Singh ended with best figure of 4 for 24 from his 4 overs. Dantak opening batsman Pawan Mehta looked in some mood as he started to hit some aggressive shots early on. Dantak lost their first wicket Pawan Kumar in the fourth over at the score of 36. It didn’t take long for Warrior’s as they picked up Bhagat Singh in the next over. Warrior’s medium pacer Pema Dorji got the better of Pawan Mehta bowling him out for 44 of 24 balls in the ninth over. Pema was the pick of the bowlers for the Warrior’s with figure of 1 for 14 from 4 overs. At this juncture of the game, Warriors were all over Dantak, however, William Rana and Vinay Singh had other plans as the two started to look comfortable and punish the Warrior’s fielding errors adding 67 runs fifth wicket partnership. Rana went on to score his maiden half century (66 of 51 balls) The game stood at 13 runs required of the last over. Warrior’s speedster Yueyong Phuntsho started nervously bowling a wide first ball before trapping Vinay Singh leg before wicket the next ball. Next bastman Rakesh Dhiman managed to squeeze a single from the next ball bringing Rana on strike. Set batsman Rana flicked the ball towards deep square to take Dantak to a one hit distance before Yueyong Phuntsho managed to run-out Rakesh Dhiman the next delivery that caused Rana to the non-striker end leaving the new man on strike. Dantak required five of the last ball which Yueyong managed to ball for a dot ball run-out giving True Warrior’s their first win. Manish Giri was declared the Player of the Match for his blistering batting performance.
ACC Women’s T20 Championship, Malaysia, 2022
The Bhutan senior women’s cricket team are in Malaysia to participate in the ACC Women’s T20 Championship 2022. The tournament commences from June 17 and the finals will be played on June 25, 2022. The 10 teams have been divided into two groups of five teams each. Each team meet once against the other four teams in the group and the top two teams from each group after the single round-robin group stage will qualify for the semi-finals. The two finalists will be granted passage to the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, where they will join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand. The ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup is scheduled to take place in Bangladesh at a date that is to be confirmed. The 14 member squad lead by Dechen Wangmo will take on Nepal in their first match tomorrow at the YSD UKM Oval.
Wangdue Radaps thump Paro Bluemoon cricket
With an easy nine-wicket win over the Paro Bluemoon cricket club, Wandue Radaps made clear intentions of giving other teams something to consider when they face them next. Paro Bluemoon openers Sonam Tobgay and Sanjit Biswa started with ease getting to 34 from 4 overs, however, the scenario of the game changed completely with the fall of Sanjit Biswa who top scored with 27 runs of 20 balls. Wangdue Radaps right-arm medium pacer Kencho Chophel left the opponent batsman with no answers to his consistent line and length landing him 4 wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs. On the other side left-arm pacer Pema Loday kept troubling the Paro Bluemoon batsman fetching him 2 wickets for 22 from 3 overs. Sangay Nima and Deki Phuntsho picked up a wicket each to bundle up Paro Bluemoon innings for total of 82. Wangdue Radap openers Pema Dorji and Ram Chandra seemed to have a game plan as they elected to play more on the ground and churned the singles and the doubles before Pema Dorji fell to a quick run out by Sonam Tobgay at total score of 28 in 5 overs. After the fall of the first wicket Ram Chandra (32* from 38 balls) and Tsheltrim Yoezer (30* of 30 balls) took the Wangdue Radaps home with an easy nine wicket victory. Wangdue Radaps Kencho Chophel was declared the Player of the Match.
Dantak snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Gladiators
Team Dantak XI managed to snatch a win from jaws of defeat against Druk Gladiators by 2 runs during the fifth match of the on-going Bhutan T20 Smash 2022. Having faced a similar encounter in the first match of the tournament which ended in a tie Dantak needed a win to keep their journey alive for the rest of the tournament. The match was earlier reduced by 2 overs a side due to wet pitch. Opting to bat first Dantak openers Lad Shrikant and Pawan Mehta started decently putting up 18 from 2 overs before Shrikant was bowled by Sajibul Mai. Druk Gladiators picked up their second wicket bowling out Ramesh Chand who managed to score 4 runs. However, it was Pawan Kumar who took control of Dantak’s innings blasting 58 of 35 balls to set up 146 runs target for the Druk Gladiators to chase. Dantak’s speedster Vinay Singh gave team the dream start in the second innings bowling Aryan Verma of his fourth delivery. Saha Alom and Ashwani Tiwari put up 37 runs stand for the second wicket before Saha Alom was run out by Pawan Mehta. Srikant Hananmant got the best of Ashwani Tiwari bowling him out to give Dantak their third wicket at a total score of 41. Dantak picked up their fourth team wicket and the third in the same over in the form of Vijay Sagar Gundala who was send back without troubling the score. Druk Gladiators were in all sorts of trouble as they lost yet another wicket in Noor Alan. However, Gladiators skipper Deepak Verma and Sajibul Mai had other plans as the two started to slowly built the innings. Deepak Verma played the anchoring job while player of the match from their first match Sajibul Mai carried on with his usual attacking batting as the two added 70 runs partnership before Deepak was bowled by Vinay Singh from the first ball of the 12th over. Vinay Singh went on to bowl Varun Amar in the same over ending with figure of 3 for 27 runs from 4 overs. On the other side Gladiators Sajibul Mai looked to consolidate the loss with few big sixers before falling leg before wicket (LBW) to Pawan Mehta. The game stood at 132 for loss of 8 wickets needing 13 runs from final 2 overs. Pawan Mehta came back to bowl his final over where he picked up S Y needing only one wicket to win. Dantak XI seemed troubled as to whom the ball should go and ultimately gambled and resorted to Yespal Singh’s off-spin who hasn’t bowled an over yet in the match. The gambling proved match winning when Sahidul Islam tried to slash the ball hard through the point region which went straight to Ramesh Chands’s hands to give Dantak their first win of the tournament. Vinay Singh was adjourned the Player of the Match.
Wangdue Radaps and Dantak share points
Wangdue Radaps and Dantak Cricket shared a point each as both teams failed to snatch a win in what was a nail-biting end during the third game of the on-going Bhutan T20 Bash 2022. Earlier due to bad light and wet outfield the had been match to 10 overs a side. Wangdue Radap’s opener Pema Dorji was sent back to the pavilion in the third over off Yatin Arora’s bowling with 18 on the scoreboard. Wangdue Radap’s Ram Chandra took charge of the innings as he went on to score 38 of 27 balls (3X6s). On the other side, contribution from Jigme Tenzin (14runs) and Deki Phuntsho (12runs) helped post 86 runs for the Dantak to chase. Dantak’s Rupesh Tripathi found himself in a mix-up giving Wangdue Radap their first wicket. On the other side Radaps left arm pacer Pema Loday trapped William Rana leg before wicket (LBW) for their second wicket. Pema Loday went on to get his second and teams third as he bowled out Vinay Singh who was looking dangerous. The game however, took turn in the sixth over as Dantak’s Vinay Singh scored 20 runs of 4 balls from Tsheltrim Yoezer’s bowling before getting bowled out. Pawan Kumar hit 2 sixers in the eight over as Dantak needed 15 of 12 balls from 2 overs. Radaps Ram Chandra took the responsibility of the ninth over and bowled brilliantly giving only five runs as Dantak required nine runs from the final over. Deki Phuntsho bowled with pace as Dantak talenders snatched double runs to see themselves needing 3 off the last ball. Lad Shrikant hit the ball long off and managed two runs before he was run-out at the wicket-keepers end that saw the game end in a tie. Wangdue Radaps Ram Chandra Mongar was declared the Player of the Match.
SKD All Stars win over the Knights
The defending champions SKD All Stars went pass Thimphu Knights by 44 runs to register their first win of the tournament today at Jigmethang ground, Thimphu in the on-going Bhutan T20 Smash 2022. SKD won the toss and chose to bat in the afternoon and fourth match of the tournament. Captain Jigme N Dorji and Sanjeevan Raj started the first innings smoothly with 45 runs stand for the opening partnership. Sanjeevan looked in good touch hitting two big sixers before being bowled by Barun Wakhley. Thimphu Knights didn’t take long for their second wicket in the form of Tshering Rigden who was run out by Sanjog Chettri. SKD All Stars lost wickets on a regular interval where on the other side Jigme Dorji (44 of 44 balls) steered the innings and played the captain’s innings before getting bowled by Dawa. After the end of 20 overs SKD All Stars put up 159 runs target. Knight’s opener Tandin Wangchuk failed to bring the previous power hitting as he was bowled in the fourth over by Tandin Wangdi when the total score was 29. Suprit Pradhan also couldn’t keep up with the required run rate as he tried to go for big and landed up being caught by Khendrup at mid-on position of Tashi Chophel’s bowling. Knight’s kept losing wickets on a regular basis credit to some smart bowling from Yowon Pradhan who ended up with figure of 4 for 5 runs in 3 overs. Barun Wakhley (22 of 18 balls) and Suraj Bhattarai (24 of 31 balls) tried to show some resilience but at the end it was SKD All Stars who bagged an easy win over the Knight’s by 44 runs. SKD All Stars Yowon Pradhan was announced the Player of the Match.