Janakpur Bolts solidified their reputation as tournament favourites as they defeated Pokhara Avengers by seven wickets to make it three wins in a row in the Nepal Premier League T20 cricket tournament at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Thursday.

Sudurpaschim Royals also continued their winning start with a resounding 73-run victory over Kathmandu Gurkhas later in the afternoon.

The outcome gives unbeaten Janakpur six points from three matches and puts them firmly in the summit of the eight-team standings.

Sudurpaschim sit second with four points.

The top four teams at the end of the single round-robin league progress into the playoffs, where the league winners and runners-up clash in the Qualifier 1 for a direct final berth. The third and fourth placed teams battle in the Eliminator. The losing side of the Qualifier 1 vie against the winners of Eliminator in the Qualifier 2 for the second spot in the title match.

Another dominant victory—followed by an eight-wicket win over Biratnagar Kings and Karnali Yaks—now makes Janakpur top contenders for playoff spot in the inaugural edition of the tournament.

Lalit Rajbanshi continued with fine form with the ball and returned a match figures of 3-31—taking his tournament tally to seven wickets—to help Janakpur restrict Pokhara for 138-7.

New Zealand allrounder James Neesham took two wickets and also shone with the bat with a solid 40 not out to guide Janakpur home.

Electing to field first after winning the toss, Janakpur spinner Rajbanshi proved deadly again and struck early to dismiss opener Andries Gous for 20 with his sixth delivery to break the momentum of Pokhara, who were doing good at 32-0 after 4.5 overs.

Neesham did further damage dispatching Gous’s opening partner Dinesh Kharel in the next over.

Pokhara’s middle order also faltered, with captain Kushal Bhurtel falling to Rajbanshi cheaply for six and Dilip Nath to Mohammad Mohsin for 11.

Marcus Critchley scored a fighting 35 runs off 30 balls to try to rebuild the innings but Rajbanshi got him spinning in the 16.3 overs to halt the progress.

Raymon Reifer also left the pitch adding 17 off 20 balls.

A late 13-ball 25 blitz from Michael Leask helped Pokhara reach a modest total.

Kishore Mahato also picked a wicket for Janakpur.

In reply, Janakpur got off to a shaky start, losing Anil Sah, who had scored an unbeaten half-century against Karnali in his previous outing, for one.

But, Aasif Sheikh and in-form Lahiru Milantha added 72 runs for the second wicket to stabilize the innings.

Milantha fell to Leask in the 9.5 overs and Sheikh was caught by Bipin Khatri off Bhurtel in the 12.3 overs that briefly threatened the chase.

But Neesham stepped up and smashed five sixes in his explosive 20-ball knock to guide Janakpur to 143-3 in 17.1 overs.

Saud’s fifer wrecks Kathmandu

Kathmandu Gurkhas had bounced back from their opening loss against Chitwan Rhinos to defeat Karnali Yaks by three wickets to revive their campaign.

But their batting dramatically collapsed against Saud’s lethal spin and folded for just 94 in 15.5 overs, while chasing a target of 168.

Kathmandu’s reply got cold feet immediately, with Brandon Mc Mullen and Saif Zaib striking early to remove both openers Michael Levitt (5) and Shankar Rana (3).

Bhim Sharki departed next making 10 after Dipendra Singh Airee and Binod Bhandari ran him out in the 6.3 overs.

Saud next trapped Gerhard Erasmus for 10 and Abinash Bohara (2-12) dispatched Sumit Maharjan for 14 next to reduce Kathmandu to 74-5 in 10.5 overs.

Saud then returned with the ball and spit venom with two strikes in the 14th over, removing the crucial wicket of Stephen Eskinazi (37 off 33) and Rashid Khan (2) that gave Sudurpaschim complete control of the game.

Bohara got his second removing Pratik Shrestha for eight next and Saud came back to haunt Kathmandu in the 16th over and polished off the tail with another double strike, dismissing Karan KC (1) and Shahab Alam (1).

Earlier, Sudurpaschim posted 167-6 from their 20 overs riding on a half century from McMullen, after being sent in to bat first.

Sudurpaschim lost their opener Zaib for 11 to Khan (2-20) in the second over, but McMullen smashed a fluent 53 off 36 balls and stitched an 86-run partnership with Bhandari for the second wicket to anchor the innings.

Sudurpaschim suffered a mini collapse when McMullen and Bhandari fell to Erasmus and Alam in the space of two balls, before Rohal Mustafa (4) and Aarif Sheikh (3) departed in quick succession.

But Dipendra Singh Airee’s quickfire 43 off 23 balls propelled Sudurpaschim to a competitive total.

Karan KC also pocketed one wicket for Kathmandu.