Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Lumbini Lions lifted the title of the second edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL), hammering favorites Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets at the TU International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
With this defeat, Sudurpaschim have been restricted to the runners-up position for the second consecutive time. They had also finished as runners-up in the first edition of the tournament, where they lost to Janakpur Bolts in the final.
Lumbini comfortably chased down the modest target of 86 runs set by Sudurpaschim in 8.5 overs with six wickets remaining.
Lumbini opener Dinesh Adhikari made light work of the chase, smashing four sixes in the very first over bowled by Sudurpaschim Captain Dipendra Singh Airee. Airee conceded 27 runs in his opening over. Dinesh scored 42 runs, D’Arcy Short made 14, and captain Rohit Paudel contributed 16. Niroshan Dickwella remained unbeaten on 11.
Hemant Dhami took two wickets for Sudurpashchim, while Dipendra Singh Airee and Avinash Bohara claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, Sudurpaschim were bowled out for just 85 runs in 19.1 overs. Sudurpaschim’s batters collapsed against Lumbini’s sharp bowling attack. Lumbini captain Rohit Paudel took a hat-trick, leaving the Sudurpaschim batters looking helpless.
In the crucial match of the tournament, Sudurpaschim, which had lost only one match in the NPL, failed to utilize the full 20 overs and were all out for a low total. Ishan Pandey was the top scorer for Sudurpaschim with 33 runs, while captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 13 and Harmit Singh added 10. None of the other batters managed to reach double figures, and three Sudurpaschim batters were dismissed without scoring.
For Lumbini, captain Rohit Paudel, Sher Malla, and Ruben Trumpelmann took three wickets each, while Tilak Bhandari picked up one wicket.
