Lumbini Lions kept their hopes of reaching the playoffs of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket alive with a 3-wicket victory over Pokhara Avengers after Sandeep Jora hit 10 runs in the final over.

Lumbini, who had set a target of 151 runs, needed 10 runs in the last over. Jora, who scored 2 runs in the first ball, then hit fours in the second and fourth balls to give Lumbini a thrilling victory.

Jora, who could only score 6 runs in the first 13 balls, scored an unbeaten 25 runs in 22 balls with 2 fours and 1 six, and Lumbini achieved the target with 2 balls to spare. This is Lumbini's second victory in 5 matches. Lumbini, who won the first match, was under immense pressure after losing 3 consecutive matches. This is Pokhara's third defeat in 4 matches.

Lumbini did not start well. Openers Sumit Maharjan and D'RC Shot were out for a duck and 7 runs respectively. Lumbini's middle order was shaken by the bravery of Niroshan Dickwella, who had played for Sri Lanka. He scored 37 runs in 22 balls with 2 fours and a six. Dilip Nath was out for 10 runs.

Captain Rohit Poudel scored the highest 40 runs. He hit 3 fours and 2 sixes in 36 balls. Gulbadin Naib scored 17 in 11 balls with 2 sixes and Ruben Trumpelman hit a six and was out for 9 in 6 balls. Pokhara's Bipin Khatri scored 18 in 4 overs, Matt Taylor in 3.4 overs and Sagar Dhakal in 3 overs for 24 runs each, while Jimmy Neesham took 1 wicket.

Earlier, Pokhara scored 150 runs in 20 overs at the Tribhuvan University Cricket International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, with the brilliant batting of Adam Rossington and Neesham.

After scoring 33 runs in 8 overs and losing 4 wickets, Rossington and Neesham shared a partnership of 92 runs in 62 balls for the fifth wicket. That is why Pokhara added 76 runs in the last 5 overs.

Rossington scored 81 runs in 63 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes. Tilakraj Bhandari dismissed him in the 19th over. Nisam remained unbeaten on 51 runs. He hit 3 fours and a six in 32 balls. Kiran Thagunna remained unbeaten on 1 run in 2 balls.