Finishing third and fourth in the points table has its perks in the Nepal Premier League. The two teams qualify for the playoffs and face each other in the Eliminator, a pathway to compete for the title.

Thus, on Wednesday, neither of the two teams—Kathmandu Gorkhas and Lumbini Lions—wanted to lose, as both were eager to progress forward, to reach Qualifier 2, and keep their hopes for the title alive. But only one team could win, and by the end of the match, it was the Lions who kept their journey alive in the second season of the NPL.

It was the second time in the season that the two teams were playing. The first time they met, in the league stage on November 25, the Gorkhas were victorious by 22 runs. And there were not many changes in the squads when they met again. But on Wednesday, the stakes were higher.

Sunny Patel was replacing Gerhard Erasmus for the Gorkhas, while the Lions had two changes—Dinesh Adhikari and Niroshan Dickwella replaced Sumit Maharjan and Gulbadin Naib.

Similar to their previous fixture, Kathmandu were batting first, but this time it was they themselves who elected it. But the team that had posted 157 runs on the board in their previous encounter could only manage 111 runs in the Eliminator.

Failing to capitalise on the decision to bat first, Kathmandu’s top four batters departed without reaching individual double figures. Pacer Ruben Trumpelmann and spinner Sher Malla took two wickets each to demolish the Gorkhas’ top order. Ben Charlesworth (4 off 5) and Patel (7 off 6) were the victims of Trumpelmann, while Malla took care of Aakash Tripathi (1 off 5) and Milind Kumar (2 off 8).

Then came skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel to destroy Kathmandu’s middle order. Bhim Sharki (14 off 16), John Simpson (18 off 17) and Rashid Khan (2 off 9) fell against Paudel. Sharki and Simpson had the highest partnership for the Gorkhas—putting together 36 runs for the fifth wicket.

It was Santosh Yadav who was the highest scorer for the Gorkhas with 23 runs before getting run out as the last wicket in 19.1 overs. Yadav helped the Gorkhas from being bundled out in less than three-digit score, but it was still the lowest target of the season, and the fifth overall.

“The very positive reflection for me is Santosh Yadav,” said Gorkhas’ head coach Monty Desai, who had praised Yadav in the start of the season as well, in the post-match conference. “He is vying for the Nepali national team. And he definitely knocked on the door.”

Mohammad Adil Alam, the highlight of the NPL Season 2 auction, also contributed with a cameo of 18 off 11 before being clean bowled by Malla. Abhishesh Gautam also picked a wicket for the Lions, having Karan KC (9 off 14) caught out as the ninth wicket.

“Regarding Alam, he is a finisher. He is built for those last five overs,” Desai said. “When Alam connects the ball, it goes out of the park.”

Further, Desai stressed that it was difficult for the team that won the toss to judge the pitch correctly. “We believed that a total of 130-140 runs would have been enough, but we failed in the powerplay,” Desai added.

The Gorkhas were at 29/4 in the powerplay. In turn, the Lions were also at 29 runs at the end of their powerplay, but had lost only one wicket—Dinesh Adhikari (4 off 5). The Lions, fearing of not ending on the losing side while trying to finish the game early, took the chase one ball at a time.

Skipper Paudel (18 off 25), Sundeep Jora (23 off 23) and Niroshan Dickwella (14 off 14) played a disciplined inning alongside opener D’Arcy Short’s 33 off 34. Their contributions allowed Trumpelmann to hit the fourth ball of the 18th over for a four and complete the chase with four wickets in hand.

Yadav also bagged two wickets for the Gorkhas, while KC, Patel, Shahab Alam and Rashid Khan picked one each. But they were insufficient.

“The last four matches for us were like a knockout,” Paudel said in the post-match conference. “We have two more matches to go,” he added, citing that the team was firm on fighting for the title after defeating Biratnagar Kings in Qualifier 2 on Thursday.

“We do not have a rest day, but it will not be an excuse for us,” Paudel said.

Meanwhile, when asked how the former head coach of Nepal, Desai, thought of the Nepali team travelling to India for the T20 World Cup in February, he said that the NPL provided a good platform for the Nepali side to see new faces with promises. “It will not be easy at Wankhede as it is a high-scoring wicket, which I believe averages 200,” Desai said. “But Nepali cricket is improving. Jay Nepal.”