The second edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL), which has been running for 27 consecutive days, will have a new winner as the 32nd match draws to a close on Saturday. Sudurpaschim Royals and Lumbini Lines are battling it out for the final in this franchise cricket epic. Sudurpaschim is playing the final for the second time in a row, while Lumbini has reached the final through the ‘play-off’ for the first time.

Many NPL records have been revived during the journey to the final. Sudurpaschim had won 6 consecutive matches in the league stage. If Lumbini wins the final, it will equal the same record of Sudurpaschim. Some of the records made in the NPL are listed here.

Opportunity for Binod and Rohit

When Sudurpaschim Royals and Lumbini Lions compete in the final of the NPL on Saturday, Binod Bhandari and Rohit Poudel will also have the opportunity to score the highest number of runs. Sudurpaschim's opening batsman Binod has scored 264 runs from 8 matches and Lumbini's captain Rohit has scored 260 runs from 9 matches.

Adam Rossington of Pokhara Avengers is ahead of Binod and Rohit in the list of highest run-scorers with 323 runs from 7 matches.

Since Pokhara was eliminated from the league stage, Binod and Rohit also have the opportunity to surpass Rossington. To surpass English batsman Rossington, Vinod will have to score at least 60 runs and Rohit will have to score 64 runs in the final. If either of them plays this innings, they could possibly become the best player of the tournament.

Vinod has already scored two half-centuries. Rohit is looking for his first half-century. Lumbini's D'RC Shot has scored 242 runs in 9 matches. He will have to score 82 runs in the final to surpass Rossington.

Avinash and Sher chasing Sandeep

Biratnagar captain Sandeep Lamichhane has taken 17 wickets. But he and his team will not be in the final.

Sudurpaschim's Avinash Bohra and Lumbini's Sher Malla, who followed him, will also play the final. Avinash has taken 16 and Sher, who shone in this year's NPL, has taken 14 wickets.

If either of these two surpass Sandeep, he will become the highest wicket-taker not only this time, but also in a single edition of the NPL. Last year, Sudurpaschim's Scott Kugglen and Janakpur's Lalit Rajbanshi took 17 wickets each.

This time, Sudurpaschim's Harmeet Singh and Lumbini's Ruben Trumpelman are also in the running to take the most wickets. Both have taken 12 wickets each. 

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Both centuries In the name of foreign players

Pokhara's English batter Adam Rossington is the third player to score a century in the NPL. He scored an unbeaten 108 runs against Karnali Yaks. Karnali's Scottish batter Mark Watt scored 114 runs against Lumbini Lions and last year Pokhara's American player Andries Gauss scored 104 runs against Lumbini. Watt's score is also the highest score in the NPL. 

Rossington and Watt completed their centuries in 55 and 41 balls, which was the fastest century in the NPL in terms of low balls. Gauss scored a century in 54 balls. Karnali's Priyanka Panchal, on the other hand, missed the chance to join the century club after being dismissed for 90 runs against Chitwan. 

Vinod is excellent behind the stumps

Sudurpaschim's Binod Bhandari is ahead in taking the most wickets as a wicketkeeper. He has taken 10 wickets with 7 catches and 3 stumpings. He is the player who has taken the most catches as a wicketkeeper. Then there are Adam Rossington of Pokhara and Lokesh Bam of Biratnagar who have taken the most catches. Kathmandu's Johan Simpson is ahead in taking the most stumpings before the final. He has already stumped 4.