Lumbini Lions, who finished last year, managed to defeat strong opponents Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets in the final on Saturday, leaving no chance.
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Lumbini Lions, considered a weak team on paper, have emerged as the winners of the second season of Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket. Lumbini defeated their opponents Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets in the final at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Saturday, leaving no chance.
Sudurpaschim, who won the toss and came in to bat after captain Rohit Poudel took a hat-trick, was all out for 85 runs in 19.1 overs. Sudurpaschim failed to score 100 runs for the first time in the NPL. This is the lowest score by a team batting first in NPL history.
Dinesh Adhikari hit 4 sixes in the first over, and Lumbini achieved the target in 9 overs in a one-sided final. Lumbini reached the playoffs for the first time and became the winner. Sudurpaschim lost in the final for the second consecutive year. Last year, the team lost to Janakpur Bolts in the final.
Lumbini lifted the trophy by winning 6 consecutive games. Lumbini has equaled Sudurpaschim's record of winning 6 consecutive games. This time, they defeated Chitwan Rhinos by 6 wickets in the first game, but after losing in the next 3 consecutive games, Lumbini was in a position to be out of the playoff race.
‘It feels like a dream come true, we were in a situation of 1 win and 3 losses in the first 4 games, to reach here from there seems to be a huge success, winning the NPL is an even bigger success,’ Rohit said, ‘This is also a big success for Lumbini Lions. This was possible due to the efforts of the entire team. We never thought that we would bowl out a team like Sudurpaschim for 85 runs. Because we had planned that if we could stop them for 140-150 runs, we would have a chance.’
Sudurpaschim started Season 2 by winning 6 consecutive games. But in the seventh game, the team lost to Biratnagar Kings. Sudurpaschim had defeated the same Biratnagar in Qualifier 1 and reached the final. Lumbini won the last 3 games of the league stage to make it to the playoffs.
Then the team defeated Kathmandu Gorkhaz in the Eliminator and Biratnagar in Qualifier 2 to set up the final. In the league stage, Sudurpaschim defeated Lumbini by 7 wickets. Last year, Sudurpaschim also won by 45 runs over Lumbini. Last year, Lumbini was at the bottom with 6 defeats in 7 matches.
One-sided final
Chasing a small target, Lumbini scored 27 runs after Dinesh hit Sudurpaschim captain Dipendra Singh Airi for 4 sixes in the first over. Dinesh and D'RC Shot put together 58 runs in 4 overs to give Lumbini a stormy start.
Shot was out for 14 runs in 13 balls. Hemant Dhami dismissed him after hitting 3 fours. Hemant also dismissed Dinesh in the same over. Dinesh scored 42 runs in 13 balls. He hit 5 sixes and 1 four. Rohit was out for 16 runs in 12 balls. He hit 2 fours and 1 six. Sandeep Jora was out for a duck when the score was tied, but Dilip Nath hit the winning run. Niroshan Dickwella remained unbeaten on 11 off 12 balls.
Rohit's hat-trick wicket
Rohit won the toss and came out to bat after taking 3 consecutive wickets in the 11th over, causing Sudurpaschim to collapse. He dismissed Dipendra Singh Airi, Deepak Bohra and Puneet Mehra. Dipendra scored 13 off 20 balls, while Deepak and Puneet were out on the first ball. Lumbini took complete control of the game after Rohit's brilliant bowling spell.
'I think they felt more pressure because of my hat-trick wicket. After that, it felt like their middle order collapsed. I can't even dream of getting a hat-trick. But today everything happened for me,' said Rohit.
This is only the second hat-trick wicket in the NPL. Kathmandu Gorkhaz's Shahab Alam took a hat-trick against Pokhara Avengers. Ever since Binod Bhandari was dismissed for a duck on the last ball of the first over, Sudurpaschim's wickets continued to fall.
Lumbini tall Namibian fast bowler Ruben Trumpelman, who dismissed Binod, dismissed Indian player Sheldon Jackson LBW for 1 run in his next over. Arif Sheikh also became Sher Malla's first victim by scoring 6 runs. Then
Rohit's hat-trick was completed. Harmeet Singh was dismissed for 10 runs by Sher for 10 runs with 1 six. Opener Ishan Pandey was the eighth player to be dismissed. He was dismissed in the 17th over and was dismissed for 33 runs with 1 four in 51 balls. Sher took his wicket tally in the tournament to 17 by taking 3 wickets. Scott Kuggeleijn was dismissed for 10 runs. He had hit 1 six in 8 balls.
Avinash Bohra could only add 1 run. Hemant Dhami remained unbeaten on 7 runs in 9 balls with 1 six. Rohit, Sher and Trumpelman took 3 wickets each. Rohit gave away 12 runs in 4 overs, Sher 18 runs. Player of the Final Trumpelman gave away only 3 runs in 2.1 overs. Tilakraj Bhandari took 1 wicket.
Rohit got a car and a motorcycle
Rohit became the best player for the Nepali player in the tournament. For that, he got an Omoda & JE car. Rohit scored 276 runs in 10 matches and took 10 wickets. He was also given a Pulsar motorcycle for scoring the most runs for the Nepali player.
‘Today was a good day for me. It was good throughout the tournament. Last year too, I was good individually. But as a team, we were not able to do well. This time we played very well, especially Ruben Trumpelman and the foreign players also played well,’ Rohit said, ‘The car was not on my mind, I was only thinking about how to win the trophy for the team. The car also came after I kept playing well. I couldn't score a single half-century in this tournament, but the team won, so I'm very happy.'
Rohit took his family members inside the car after receiving the car award. He said, 'My parents, brothers and sisters have all come to watch the game today, so it was an emotional moment for me. It was also important for my parents to be in the car today.'
Trumpelman is the best player in the NPL
Lumbini's fast bowler Ruben Trumpelman was named the best player in the NPL and was named the Player of the Series. He took 15 wickets in 10 matches and scored 56 runs. He was presented with a cheque of Rs 5 lakh. He was also named the Player of the Match after taking 3 wickets. Trumpelman took only 7 wickets in 3 matches of the playoffs.
Emerging award for Sher
Lumbini's off-spinner Sher Malla received the Emerging Player award. He was presented with Rs 2 lakh and a Pulsar motorcycle. Sher took his wicket tally to 17 by taking 3 wickets in the final. Sher had also won the NPL title with Janakpur Bolts last year.
He is the first player to win both NPLs. ‘That’s why we bought Sher from the auction,’ said Rohit, ‘Sher has performed whenever Lumbini Lions needed wickets. He has taken important wickets at crucial moments. He is an important player for our team.’
Sher, Biratnagar Kings captain Sandeep Lamichhane and Sudurpaschim’s Avinash Bohra took the most wickets in the tournament with 17. Avinash took a brilliant catch from Dipendra to Rohit at the last moment to take his wicket tally to 17.
Sandeep was presented with a Pulsar motorcycle for the most wickets. Sandeep’s bowling average was 10.41 compared to Sher’s 13.76 and Avinash’s 11.47.
