Lumbini Province has clinched the title of Bir Ganeshman Singh National T20 Championship. This is the first-ever tournament won by Lumbini in senior-level national cricket.
In a final match played at Mulpani Cricket Ground on Monday, Lumbini led by Dev Khanal defeated Karnali Province by 31 runs to be crowned as the champions. Opting to bat first, Lumbini managed to post only 116/9 in the allotted 20 overs.
Opener Mrinal Gurung top-scored for Lumbini with a sluggish 30-ball 27. Birat Bhandari and Krishan Karki also contributed important 26 and 23 runs respectively. Other batters failed to cross a double-digit score.
For Karnali, Unish Thakuri picked up three wickets (4-0-17-3). Dinesh Adhikari and Diwan Pun also grabbed two wickets each.
In reply, Karnali were in a strong position of 44/1 at one stage of the chase. But after the departure of Bipin Shahi for 28 runs (18 balls) in the fifth over, Karnali kept losing continuous wickets and were bowled out for just 85 runs in 15.3 overs. They lost nine wickets for just 41 runs to lose the final by 31 runs. Bipin Rawal scored 23 whereas Dipendra Rawat was unbeaten for 12 runs.
For Lumbini, Abishesh Gautam was the pick of a bowler grabbing a five-wicket haul. He ended up with a brilliant figure of 3.3-0-10-5. Nar Bahadur Sharki grabbed a couple of wickets whereas Dev Khanal and Nirmal Gurung also pocketed one each.
The winner of the tournament, Lumbini were rewarded NRS Two Lakhs (2,00,000) whereas the runner-up, Karnali received NRS One Lakh (1,00,000). Sudurpaschim’s Abhisek Pal was adjudged the best batter of the tournament as well as the player of the tournament. He received NRS Thirty-five thousand combined (10+25 thousand). Similarly, Lumbini’s Nar Bahadur Sharki received the award of best bowler of the tournament and got NRS ten thousand cash prize.
Seven Provincial sides battled in the first edition of the Bir Ganeshman Singh National T20 Championship in a round-robin format. Lumbini and Karnali were the top two sides after all the teams playing six matches each.
