Lumbini Lions clinch NPL second edition title

Kathmandu: Lumbini Lions have clinched the title of the second edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL).

Lumbini defetaed Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets in the final match held at the Kirtipur-based TU International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Lumbini chased the target of 86 runs set by Sudurpaschim and achieved it in nine overs losing four wickets.

Dinesh Adhikari contributed the highest 42 runs for Lumbini. He scored 42 runs in 13 balls, hitting one four and five sixes.

Similarly, D'Arcy Short scored 14 runs. He made 14 runs with three fours in 13 balls. Captain Rohit Paudel scored 16 runs. He made 16 runs with two fours and a six in 12 balls. Niroshan Dickwella remained unbeaten on 11 runs. Similarly, Sandip Jora was out for zero. In bowling, Hemanta Dhami took two wickets, while Avinash Bohora and Dipendra Singh Airee took one wicket each for Sudurpaschim.

Earlier, Sudurpaschim, having won the toss and opting to bat first, were bowled out for 85 runs in 19.1 overs. Ishan Pandey scored the highest 33 runs for Sudurpaschim. He scored 33 runs off 51 balls, including one four. Similarly, captain Dipendra Singh Airee made 13 runs, while Harmit Singh and Scott Kuggeleijn each scored 10 runs.

Apart from that, the other batsmen could not add double-digit runs. In the process of restraining Sudurpaschim at modest run, the bowlers of Lumbini Lions performed excellently. For Lumbini, Sher Malla, Ruben Trampelman and captain Rohit Paudel took three wickets each. Similarly, Tika Bhandari took one wicket.

With this, Sudurpaschim Royals became the first runner-up team of the first edition of NPL. Sudurpaschim had to content with the runner-up this time also. In the final of the first edition, Sudurpaschim was defeated by Janakpur Bolts. This time Lumbini bagged Rs 11 million along with the title. The runner-up Sudurpaschim received Rs 5.1 million.

Meanwhile, Skipper of Lumbini Lions, Rohit Kumar Paudel, who is crowned Player of the Tournament in the second season Nepal Premier League (NPL), has been presented with a car. Lumbini had defeated Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets to lift the NPL Champions title for the first time. The credit for Lumbini's victory over Sudurpaschim goes to Rohit's all-round performance in the game.

He is in the second position with the highest number of runs (276) in the second season of NPL. He is the Nepali player making the highest number of runs while Binod Bhandari is in the second place among the Nepali player with 264 runs in this edition of NPL. In bowling also, Rohit took 10 wickets. He also became the 'best batter'. He also won a Pulsar Bike, becoming the Emerging Player of the Tournament. Sandip Lamichhane and Avinash Bohara jointly took the highest position in the list of the maximum wicket-takers with 17 wickets.

Similarly, Ruben Trumpelmann has been declared the Best Player of the Tournament, Sandip Lamichhane as the Best Bowler; and Avinash Bohara as the Red Bull Player of the Tournament. Lamichhane and Bohara won a bike each.

Trumpelmann won cash prize of Rs 500,000. Likewise, Tilakraj Bhandari of Lumbini Lions was declared the 'Energetic Player of the Tournament'. Sher Malla of Lumbini became the 'Emerging' player and received a motorcycle. The award winners were presented with their prizes by Minister for Communication Jagadish Kharel and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) President Chatur Bahadur Chand among others.