न्यूज अभियान
हरेक खबर विशेष खबर

Kathmandu, Nov 14: Lumbini Lions have defeated Biratnagar Kings by 4 wickets to lead the points table, and thereby secure a spot in the Qualifiers of the Nepal Premier League 2026.

In the match held at TU International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Lumbini achieved the victory target of 167 runs put by Biratnagar in the penultimate ball of the match, at the loss of 6 wickets.

Openers D'Arcy Shot and Asif Sheikh laid the foundation for the chase by scoring 45 runs each, while Ali Sheikh (27 in 19 balls) and Sundeep Jora (25 in 11 balls) took their team to the qualifiers. Prior to this match, Lumbini had already booked a place in the play-offs while it was must-win match for Biratnagar to be qualified to the knock-out round.

Earlier, put into bat first, Biratnagar Kings scored a challenging total of 166 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. 

Charith Asalanka top-scored for Biratnagar with 64 runs in 43 balls followed by Subham Ranjane (31 in 24 balls) and Imran Sheikh who scored 24 in 29 balls, before being retired hurt.

For the bowling side, Kishor Mahato took 2 wickets while Ruben Trumpelmann and Abhisesh Gautam took 1 wicket each.

With this win, Lumbini go top of the points table with 11 points in 7 matches while Biratnagar remain in the 5th position with just 6 points in equal number of matches. As a result, Biratnagar are out of the tournament.

Along with Lumbini, Sudurpaschim Royals with 10 points in 7 matches, Kathmandu Gorkhas with 8 points in 6 matches and Chitwan Rhinos with 7 points in 6 matches have also made it to the play-offs. Kathmandu and Chitwan are yet to play a match each, to decide the second team to go to the Qualifiers along with Lumbini.

Lumbini are the reigning champions while Sudurpaschim Royals finished runners-up in NPL 2025. This is the third edition of the franchise-based Twenty20 cricket tournament hosted by the Cricket Association of Nepal.

A total of eight teams are competition in NPL 2026, with Janakpur Bolts, Pokhara Avengers and Karnali Yaks already out of the tournament.