2021 Everest Premier League
# 2021 Everest Premier League

The 2021 Everest Premier League, also known as EPL4 or Bajaj Pulsar EPL for sponsorship reasons, was the fourth edition of the Everest Premier League, a professional men's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Nepal. The event was initially scheduled for December 2019, before being postponed multiple times. Lalitpur Patriots were the defending champions, having won their first title in 2018, but were eliminated in the group stage after finishing fifth.

## Background

The fourth edition of the Everest Premier League was originally scheduled to be held from 8 to 22 December 2019, but was rescheduled to run from 29 February to 14 March 2020. but was rescheduled again, to run from 14 to 28 March 2020. On 5 March, the event was postponed again due to the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2021, the 2021 Everest Premier League dates were announced by the Cricket Association of Nepal as 25 September – 9 October 2021. The dates were chosen to coincide with the Vijayadashami festival in Nepal. All matches will be played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kathmandu.

The prize money for the competition has been doubled from the 2018 edition, and will be 5 million nepalese rupees (NPR). The runners-up will earn 1.5 million NPR.

## Venues

* Kathmandu
* Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground
* Capacity: 25,000+
* Kirtipurclass=notpageimage| TU International Cricket Ground is the host for all matches of the tournament.

## Squads

| Bhairahawa Gladiators | Biratnagar Warriors | Chitwan Tigers | Kathmandu Kings XI | Lalitpur Patriots | Pokhara Rhinos |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tamim Iqbal Upul Tharanga Dhammika Prasad Sharvin Muniandy Sharad Vesawkar (c) Pradeep Airee Aarif Sheikh Rohit Kumar Paudel Bhuwan Karki Kushal Malla Abinash Bohara Krishna Karki Harishankar Shah Dipesh Shrestha Himanshu Dutta Bikash Agri | Sikandar Raza Chandrapaul Hemraj Rayyan Pathan Dilshan Munaweera Karan KC (c) Basant Regmi Aasif Sheikh Anil Sah Sumit Maharjan Ramnaresh Giri Hari Bahadur Chauhan Anil Kharel Bikram Kumar Bhusal Saurav Khanal | Mohammad Shahzad Seekkuge Prasanna Karim Janat Virandeep Singh Sompal Kami (c) Dilip Nath Lalit Bhandari Bhim Sharki Ishan Pandey Sandeep Sunar Kamal Singh Airee Shahab Alam Sagar Dhakal Aadil Khan Khadak Bohara | Shahid Afridi Janak Prakash Ryan Burl Rahmanullah Gurbaz Ashan Priyanjan Dipendra Singh Airee Sandeep Lamichhane (c) Jitendra Mukhiya Subash Khakurel Amrit Bhattarai Amit Shrestha Raju Rijal M Samsad Sheikh Amar Singh Routela Akash Chand Sher Malla Dipendra Rawat | Azmatullah Omarzai Ranjung Mikyo Dorji Oshada Fernando Sandun Weerakkody Jaykishan Kolsawala Lalit Rajbanshi Pawan Sarraf Sundeep Jora Kushal Bhurtel (c) Shankar Rana Sonu Tamang Rashid Khan Yogendra Singh Karki Surya Tamang Narayan Joshi | Kesrick Williams Sahan Arachchige Asela Gunaratne Richard Levi Binod Bhandari (c) Prithu Baskota Sunil Dhamala Sushan Bhari Kishore Mahato Bikram Sob Bipin Khatri Nandan Yadav Rit Gautam Lokesh Bam Dev khanal Bipin Rawal |

* Source: Yahoo! Sports
* Foreign players are listed along with their respective flag.
* C stands for Captain.

## Points table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Chitwan Tigers | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.489 |
| 2 | Pokhara Rhinos | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.023 |
| 3 | Bhairahawa Gladiators | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0.971 |
| 4 | Kathmandu Kings XI | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.467 |
| 5 | Lalitpur Patriots | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −0.601 |
| 6 | Biratnagar Warriors | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −1.143 |

* 1 2 Total wins: Pokhara Rhinos 3, Bhairahawa Gladiators 2.
* The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
   * advance to Qualifier 1.
   * advance to Eliminator.

## League matches

The schedule was published on 8 September 2021.

* Match 1 25 September 2021 (2021-09-25) 12:15 Scorecard

| Lalitpur Patriots 157/8 (20 overs) | v | Kathmandu Kings XI 160/3 (14.2 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Pawan Sarraf 61 (44) Jitendra Mukhiya 4/18 (4 overs) | | Ryan Burl 73* (34) Pawan Sarraf 1/25 (3 overs) |

* Kathmandu Kings XI won by 7 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan and Durga Subedi Player of the match: Ryan Burl (Kings XI)
* Kathmandu Kings XI won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 2 26 September 2021 (2021-09-26) 09:30 Scorecard

| Biratnagar Warriors 151/9 (20 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 155/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sikandar Raza 67 (47) Sagar Dhakal 2/14 (3 overs) | | Rajesh Pulami 43* (39) Karan KC 2/30 (4 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 2 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Kamal Airee (Tigers)
* Chitwan Tigers won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 3 26 September 2021 (2021-09-26) 13:30 Scorecard

| Pokhara Rhinos 65/7 (10.1 overs) | v | Bhairahawa Gladiators |
| - | - | - |
| Asela Gunaratne 23 (16) Durgesh Gupta 3/16 (3 overs) | | |

* No result TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan and Vinay Kumar Jha
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to bat.
* No further play was possible due to rain.
* Match 4 3 October 2021 (2021-10-03) 09:30 Scorecard

| Biratnagar Warriors 104/5 (8 overs) | v | Kathmandu Kings XI 97/3 (8 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Anil Sah 45* (16) Ryan Burl 1/17 (2 overs) | | Rahmanullah Gurbaz 28 (15) Rayyan Pathan 2/30 (2 overs) |

* Biratnagar Warriors won by 7 runs TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Ram Yadav and Vinay Kumar Jha Player of the match: Anil Sah (Warriors)
* Kathmandu Kings XI won the toss and elected to field.
* Match was reduced to 8 overs per side due to rain.
* Match was rescheduled from 27 September due to rain.
* Match 5 4 October 2021 (2021-10-04) 09:30 Scorecard

| Chitwan Tigers 164/8 (20 overs) | v | Bhairahawa Gladiators 165/4 (17.5 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Karim Janat 35 (37) Abinash Bohara 3/38 (4 overs) | | Pradeep Airee 72 (43) Karim Janat 2/23 (3 overs) |

* Bhairahawa Gladiators won by 6 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Sanjay Gurung and Vinay Kumar Jha Player of the match: Pradeep Airee (Gladiators)
* Chitwan Tigers won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match was rescheduled from 27 September due to rain.
* Match 6 4 October 2021 (2021-10-04) 12:15 Scorecard

| Kathmandu Kings XI 182/8 (20 overs) | v | Pokhara Rhinos 142/5 (15 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Amit Shrestha 56 (41) Bibek Yadav 3/7 (1 over) | | Sahan Arachchige 43 (23) Gulshan Jha 2/29 (3 overs) |

* Pokhara Rhinos won by 14 runs (DLS method) TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Ram Yadav Player of the match: Bibek Yadav (Rhinos)
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to field.
* No further play was possible due to rain. Rhinos were 14 runs ahead of the par score.
* Match was rescheduled from 28 September due to rain.
* Match 7 29 September 2021 (2021-09-29) 09:30 Scorecard

| Lalitpur Patriots 51/6 (7 overs) | v | Pokhara Rhinos 55/1 (6.3 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sandun Weerakkody 19 (16) Nandan Yadav 3/11 (2 overs) | | Richard Levi 38* (22) Azmatullah Omarzai 1/11 (2 overs) |

* Pokhara Rhinos won by 9 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan and Ram Yadav Player of the match: Nandan Yadav (Rhinos)
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to field.
* Match was reduced to 7 overs per side due to rain.
* Match 8 29 September 2021 (2021-09-29) 13:30 Scorecard

| Biratnagar Warriors 89 (17.4 overs) | v | Bhairahawa Gladiators 92/4 (15.3 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Dilshan Munaweera 25 (20) Dhammika Prasad 3/6 (3 overs) | | Upul Tharanga 34 (35) Ramnaresh Giri 2/30 (4 overs) |

* Bhairahawa Gladiators won by 6 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Dhammika Prasad (Gladiators)
* Bhairahawa Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 9 30 September 2021 (2021-09-30) 09:30 Scorecard

| Kathmandu Kings XI 141/8 (20 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 142/7 (18.4 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Subash Khakurel 35 (34) Sagar Dhakal 4/21 (4 overs) | | Rajesh Pulami 26 (29) Ryan Burl 2/13 (4 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 3 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan and Vinay Kumar Jha Player of the match: Sagar Dhakal (Tigers)
* Chitwan Tigers won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 10 30 September 2021 (2021-09-30) 13:30 Scorecard

| Lalitpur Patriots 177/7 (20 overs) | v | Bhairahawa Gladiators 177/5 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sandun Weerakkody 58 (41) Abinash Bohara 2/47 (4 overs) | | Upul Tharanga 67* (44) Rashid Khan 3/34 (4 overs) |

* Match tied TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Upul Tharanga (Gladiators)
* Bhairahawa Gladiators won the toss and elected to field.
* Super Over was not played due to bad light.
* Match 11 1 October 2021 (2021-10-01) 09:30 Scorecard

| Lalitpur Patriots 226/5 (20 overs) | v | Biratnagar Warriors 189/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sandun Weerakkody 73 (43) Karan KC 2/43 (4 overs) | | Dilshan Munaweera 59 (39) Azmatullah Omarzai 4/42 (4 overs) |

* Lalitpur Patriots won by 37 runs TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan and Ram Yadav Player of the match: Azmatullah Omarzai (Patriots)
* Biratnagar Warriors won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 12 1 October 2021 (2021-10-01) 13:30 Scorecard

| Pokhara Rhinos 123/7 (20 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 124/1 (16.4 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Bibek Yadav 53* (45) Shahab Alam 2/17 (4 overs) | | Mohammad Shahzad 63* (52) Bikram Sob 1/19 (3 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 9 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Tigers)
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 13 5 October 2021 (2021-10-05) 09:30 Scorecard

| Kathmandu Kings XI | v | Bhairahawa Gladiators |
| - | - | - |

* Match abandoned TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Ram Yadav and Vinay Kumar Jha
* No play was possible due to wet outfield.
* Match was rescheduled from 3 October due to wet outfield.
* Match 14 2 October 2021 (2021-10-02) 13:30 Scorecard

| Biratnagar Warriors 172/5 (20 overs) | v | Pokhara Rhinos 173/3 (17.4 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Aasif Sheikh 44 (33) Bikram Sob 2/33 (4 overs) | | Asela Gunaratne 50* (24) Pratis GC 1/19 (3 overs) |

* Pokhara Rhinos won by 7 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Ram Yadav and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Sahan Arachchige (Rhinos)
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 15 3 October 2021 (2021-10-03) 12:15 Scorecard

| Lalitpur Patriots 108/9 (20 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 112/5 (17.2 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Jaykishan Kolsawala 42 (33) Kamal Singh Airee 3/11 (4 overs) | | Mohammad Shahzad 35 (28) Rijan Dhakal 2/11 (2 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 5 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Kamal Singh Airee (Tigers)
* Lalitpur Patriots won the toss and elected to bat.

## Playoff stage

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6 October | 6 October | 6 October | | | | 9 October | 9 October | 9 October |
| 1 | Chitwan Tigers | 68/1 | | | | 1 | Chitwan Tigers | 114/6 |
| 2 | Pokhara Rhinos | 66 | 7 October | 7 October | 7 October | 2 | Pokhara Rhinos | 111 |
| | | | 2 | Pokhara Rhinos | 123/3 | | | |
| 6 October | 6 October | 6 October | 3 | Bhairahawa Gladiators | 119/6 | | | |
| 3 | Bhairahawa Gladiators | 188/8 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Kathmandu Kings XI | 172/8 | | | | | | |

### Preliminary

**Qualifier 1**

* Match 16 6 October 2021 (2021-10-06) 09:30 Scorecard

| Pokhara Rhinos 66 (15 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 68/1 (7.5 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Richard Levi 19 (12) Shahab Alam 4/10 (4 overs) | | Mohammad Shahzad 48 (26) Nandan Yadav 1/23 (1.5 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 9 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Ram Yadav and Vinay Kumar Jha Player of the match: Shahab Alam (Tigers)
* Chitwan Tigers won the toss and elected to field.

**Eliminator**

* Match 17 6 October 2021 (2021-10-06) 13:30 Scorecard

| Bhairahawa Gladiators 188/8 (20 overs) | v | Kathmandu Kings XI 172/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sharad Vesawkar 49 (20) Ashan Priyanjan 2/17 (3 overs) | | Ashan Priyanjan 68 (48) Kushal Malla 2/22 (3 overs) |

* Bhairahawa Gladiators won by 16 runs TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Sanjay Gurung and Durga Subedi Player of the match: Sharad Vesawkar (Gladiators)
* Bhairahawa Gladiators won the toss and elected to bat.

**Qualifier 2**

* Match 18 7 October 2021 (2021-10-07) 12:15 Scorecard

| Bhairahawa Gladiators 119/6 (20 overs) | v | Pokhara Rhinos 123/3 (18.2 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Sharad Vesawkar 32* (33) Sahan Arachchige 2/15 ( 4 overs) | | Sahan Arachchige 53* (44) Bhuvan Karki 2/16 (3 overs) |

* Pokhara Rhinos won by 7 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Sanjay Gurung Player of the match: Sahan Arachchige (Rhinos)
* Pokhara Rhinos won the toss and elected to field.

### Final

* Match 19 9 October 2021 (2021-10-09) 12:15 Scorecard

| Pokhara Rhinos 111 (17.5 overs) | v | Chitwan Tigers 114/6 (15.5 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Asela Gunaratne 34 (24) Kamal Airee 4/20 (3.5 overs) | | Bhim Sharki 63 (45) Kishore Mahato 4/27 (3.5 overs) |

* Chitwan Tigers won by 4 wickets TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur Umpires: Durga Subedi and Vinay Kumar Jha Player of the match: Kamal Airee (Tigers)
* Chitwan Tigers won the toss and elected to field.
