Lumbini becomes the first team to be eliminated after losing to Kathmandu

Lumbini Lions became the first team to be eliminated from the Nepal Premier League (NPL).

In a match where they had to win to keep their mathematical chances of reaching the playoffs alive, Lumbini was defeated by Kathmandu Gurkhas by 18 runs, leading to their elimination from the tournament.

Kathmandu, on the other hand, secured their second win in the fourth game and kept their playoff hopes alive.

Kathmandu, managing to defend a low-scoring total, successfully defended a modest score of 103 runs. Lumbini, however, suffered their fifth loss in the sixth match and was eliminated from the competition.

Chasing a target of 104 runs, Lumbini was bowled out for 85 runs in 19.2 overs. None of their players could perform well. Sandeep Jora’s 26 runs was the highest score for Lumbini. Umesh Chand scored 14 runs, while Surya Tamang made 11 runs.

Other Lumbini batters included Asutosh Gireya (4 runs), Arjun Saud (3 runs), Umesh Chand (14 runs), Tom Mears (6 runs), Rohit Paudel (8 runs), Sad Bin Zafar (0 runs), and Vivek Yadav (2 runs).

For Kathmandu, Karan KC took 4 wickets, giving away only 16 runs in 4 overs. Dipesh Kandel claimed 3 wickets for just 6 runs in 4 overs. Kathmandu’s Gerhard Erasmus took 2 wickets, and Rashid Khan took one.

Earlier, Kathmandu Gurkhas, batting first, set a target of 104 runs for Lumbini. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Kathmandu was bowled out for 103 runs in 19.2 overs. Bhim Sarki was the top scorer for Kathmandu with 31 runs.

Other notable scores for Kathmandu were from Dan Douthwaite (21 runs), Stephan Eskinazi (13 runs), and Pratik Shrestha (20 runs). In restricting Kathmandu to a low total, Sadbin Zafar took 3 wickets, and Ramon Simonds and Abhishek Gautam each took 2 wickets. Surya Tamang and Vivek Yadav also claimed one wicket each.