Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane continued to fly the Nepal flag high in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) as he played a starring role in Melbourne Stars’ first win of the season.

Lamichhane picked up 2-18 from his four overs at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) as the Stars completed a five-wicket win over the Sydney Sixers.

The 18-year-old leggie trapped Moises Henriques and Tom Curran lbw in his four-over spell to help restrict the Sixers to 130-9 in their 20 overs.

In response, an explosive 35-ball 70 from Australia Test discard Peter Handscomb helped the Stars overhaul the target with considerable ease to break the franchise’s sequence of two losses.

Lamichhane, who has become the first player from his country to feature in the BBL, has been drawing tremendous support from Nepalese fans in every Australian ground he has played so far.

The two scalps picked up by the teenager on Thursday has now seen him climb to the top of wicket-taking charts in the 2018-19 edition of the BBL. The leg-spinner had picked up five wickets in the two earlier defeats suffered by the Stars with his overall tally now standing at seven.

It has been a sensational year for the leg-spin prodigy who earlier became the first Nepalese player to earn an IPL contract. After representing Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the 2018 edition of the IPL, Lamichhane has gone on to undertake stints in the Global T20 Canada and Caribbean Premier League.

The Nepal sensation has also bagged a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) contract with the Sylhet Sixers and is slated to undergo a maiden stint in the Pakistan Super League next year with the Lahore Qalandars.