Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Captain Rohit Paudel and Saad Bin Zafar inspired Lumbini Lions to its first Nepal Premier League (NPL) victory at the TU Cricket Grounds in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
In the first match of NPL after Monday’s break, Lumbini Lions defeated Chitwan Rhinos by 33 runs. Batting first, Lumbini scored 167 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, Chitwan could score only 134 runs.
Lumbini, which needed to win this fixture to have any chance of making it to the playoffs, made a poor start with the bat and was down 49/4 in 7.4 overs. Openers Ashutosh Ghiraiya and Arjun Saud made 1 and 15 runs, respectively, while Unmukt Chand fell for a duck and Tom Moores was out for 10. The ever-dependable Rohit Paudel led Lumbini’s fightback with an attractive knock of 80 off 57 balls which included five sixes and six fours. He found support from Saad Bin Zafar who scored 52 off 35 balls.
Rijan Dhakal took three wickets for Chitwan, while Kushal Malla and Ranjit Kumar claimed a wicket each.
Chasing 167 to earn its fourth victory in NPL, Chitwan also lost openers Santosh Karki and Bipin Rawal cheaply. Karki scored 10, while Rawal contributed five. Likewise, Sohail Tanvir was out for 1. Luc Benkenstein scored 31 and Kushal Malla contributed 20, while Ravi Bopara chipped in 13 runs. Rijan Dhakal and Nar Karki scored 15 and 22, respectively. Other Chitwan batters failed to reach double digits.
Rohit Paudel took four wickets for Lumbini, while Ramon Simmonds claimed two, and Saad Bin Zafar and Abhishesh Gautam had a wicket each to their names.
