Lumbini Lions trounce Sudurpaschim Royals by 7 wickets

Kathmandu, Oct 26: Defending champions, Lumbini Lions, have made an impressive start to the defense of their 2025 NPL title by defeating Sudurpaschim Royals by 7 wickets.

In the inaugural match of Nepal Premier League (NPL) 2026 held at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Lumbini Lions led by Rohit Paudel decided to bat first after winning the toss and limited Sudurpaschim to a meagre 87 runs, bowling them out in 17.2 overs.

In limiting Sudurpaschim to a partly total, Sher Malla struck in the third over, trapping captain Binod Bhandari LBW while Kishore Mahato struck twice in the fourth over, taking the wickets of Aarif Sheikh and Brandon McMullen. Sudurpachim continued to lose wickets, with only captain Dipendra Singh Airee (27) and opener Saif Zaib (13) scoring in double figures, while Anil Kharel remained not out with 15 runs.

In the end, Kishore Mahato took 4 wickets, Sher Malla took 3 wickets, while Shadley van Schalkwyk, Tilak Bhandari and Rohit Paudel took one wicket each.

Chasing a relatively easy victory target of 88 runs to get in 20 overs, Lumbini sailed through, with D’Arcy Shot blasting 40 runs in just 18 balls as an opener. His opening partner, Aasif Sheikh scored 32 runs in 25 balls. Niroshan Dickwell contributed 7 runs. Lumbini achieved the victory target in 9.5 overs.

For the bowling side, Anil Kharel took 2 wickets while captain Dipendra Singh Airee took 1 wicket.

This is the third edition of the NPL, a franchise-based T20 cricket tournament organised by the Cricket Association of Nepal. It features a total of eight franchise-based teams, including Karnali Yaks, Janakpur Bolts, Pokhara Avengers, Biratnagar Kings, Chitwan Rhinos and Kathmandu Gorkhas,

The NPL Twenty20 cricket tournament has been officially recognized by the International Cricket Council from the current edition. In addition, the Decision Review System (DRS) has been used for the first time in the tournament from the third edition.

Earlier, Prime Minister Balendra Shah inaugurated the third edition of the Nepal Premier League by handing over the match ball to the umpire before the inaugural match between Lumbini Lions and Sudurpaschim Royals. #rss