Lumbini All-Stars have been crowned as the champions of the inaugural Nepal T20 League. All-Stars stunned Biratnagar Super Kings by 24 runs in the final to clinch the title. They will receive fifty-five lakhs Nepali rupees, while the runner-up, Biratnagar Super Kings, will get thirty lakhs. Meanwhile, Janakpur and Kathmandu will bag ten and five lakhs, respectively.
The player of the series will be rewarded with five lakhs. The best batter and bowler of the tournament will be given two lakhs fifty thousand rupees each. The emerging player of the tournament will be presented with one lakh eighty thousand rupees.
Chasing an average target, Super Kings were restricted to 109/8 after a poor batting display. Biratnagar had a fumbling start from the very start as they were two down quickly, losing Gauranshu Sharma and skipper Rohit Paudel. Hussain Talat and Raj Nanan, too, couldn’t do any special. A moment later, Arjun Saud departed for 40-ball 34 runs leaving a huge task for the coming batters.
Prithu Baskota scored 31 runs from 29 balls, while Bibek Yadav was sent back for six runs.
Harmeet Singh and Sagar Dhakal grabbed two wickets each for Lumbini with a healthy economy. Kishore Mahato and Bipul Sharma also pocketed one each.
Earlier, Lumbini were bowled out for 133 in 19.2 overs. Opting to bat first, they were settled for an average total despite a superb start.
Openers Harmeet Singh and Lahiru Milantha yielded a cracking start adding 64 runs for the first wicket. Harmeet departed for 18-ball 30, one ball before the end of the powerplay, followed by Kushal Bhurtel in the next over.
Milantha scored the highest 41 runs (28 balls) for the All-Stars, with three fours and sixes each. His dismissal in the tenth over decreased the run rate as Ishan Pandey and Dipendra Singh Airee couldn’t capitalize the start they had. They scored sluggish 18 (22 balls) and 20 (23 balls), respectively.
Nandan Yadav and Raj Nannan picked up two wickets each for Biratnagar. Surya Tamang picked up one wicket and conceded just eight runs from four overs, bowling 19 dot balls. Apart from him, Rohit Paudel, Keon Joseph and Hussain Talat pocketed one each.
