League stage table toppers Lumbini All Stars edged runners up Janakpur Royals by six runs in the first qualifier of the Nepal T20 League to enter the final at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur on Sunday.

Janakpur, who had defeated the same opponents by 23 runs in their last league match on Friday, failed to score 10 runs needed in the last over for victory. Kishore Mahato conceded just three runs in the last six deliveries.

They, however, will get yet another chance to test their mettle for an entry into the final on Thursday when they get to take on the winners of the eliminator on Tuesday. Biratnagar Super Kings will lock horns against Kathmandu Knights in the eliminator on Monday and the winner will play against Jankpur the following day for a place in the final.

Sent in to bat, Lumbini posted a moderate target of 143/8 and restricted Janakpur to 137-7 in their run chase to continue with their impressive run in the tournament.

Lumbini lost their opener Hameet Singh for a golden duck and one-down batter Kushal Bhurtel for three runs with 7/2 on board. But the combined efforts of other batters helped them put up a modest total.

Ishan Pandey contributed 38 off 39 balls, the highest of the innings, studded with three hits to the fence and a six. Medium pacer Sompal Kami had him caught by Pawan Sarraf. Anil Sah (26-ball 24), Bipul Sharma (13-ball 20), Shadly van Schalkwyk (8-ball 17), opener Lahiru Milantha (17-ball 16) and captain Dipendra Singh Airee (8-ball 10) were the other significant contributors for Lumbini.

Janakpur bowlers Sompal Kami, Ashan Priyanjan and Jitendra Mukhiya shared two wickets each. Kami conceded 19 runs in his four-over spell with a maiden over, while Priyanjan gave away 16 runs in his three overs of bowling. Mukhiya gave away 15 runs in his two overs.

Janakpur Royals made a shaky start to their run chase and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. At one time, they were tottering at 45/5. Captain Trevon Griffith (10), Dilip Nath (0), Sundeep Jora (2) and Ashan Priyanjan (7) were all dismissed cheaply.

Middle order batter Samiullah Shinwari then contributed 45 runs off 31 balls that included two hits to the boundary along with three sixes. He cracked two sixes off the first two deliveries of the penultimate over bowled by Van Schalkwyk, but was dismissed off the very next delivery, caught by Kishore Mahato.

Janakpur, however, managed to collect 23 runs in the over after Pawan Sarraf hit a boundary and a six. They needed 10 runs in the last over, for victory. But they could manage only three runs in the last over, ultimately losing the first qualifier by six runs.

Lumbini captain Dipendra Singh Airee, Bipur Sharma and Sagar Dhakal all shared two wickets each. Airee conceded nine runs in his three-over spell, bowling a maiden over. Sharma, named player-of-the-match, gave away 21 runs in his four overs of bowling and Dhakal conceded 20 runs off his three overs.

Kami opens up about payment issues

Janakpur’s medium pacer and Nepali international Kami said that there were issues related to payment in Nepal T20 cricket.

“There are payment issues as you think in the tournament. But as professional players, we need to leave all our issues outside when we enter the ground,” Kami said. “It is not that we did not give our cent percent effort. We have won our previous game even when we were not paid.”

He, however, added that the players were now gradually getting their salaries. “We have got about 65 percent of our salary and hopefully all the outstanding dues will be paid in the next two-three days,” said Kami.

About their match against Lumbini, he said: “We made lots of errors today and were not a deserving winner. We could have restricted them to around 120 runs but conceded extra 20-25 runs which cost us the game.”

Payment issues at the league surfaced on Tuesday after players of Kathmandu Knights and Biratnagar Super Kings did not enter the pitch for toss. Later, they agreed to play the match after Cricket Association of Nepal officials assured them of payments.