The four teams heading into the playoffs of the third season of the Nepal Premier League have been confirmed, with two matches remaining in the league stage.

Lumbini Lions defeated Biratnagar Kings by four wickets on Saturday and knocked them out of the playoffs race. 

Before taking on the field on Saturday, Biratnagar were fifth in the points table with six points from three wins in six games. With four teams—Sudurpaschim Royals, Lumbini, Kathmandu Gorkhas and Chitwan Rhinos—having over seven points, the Kings had to win the fixture against Lumbini to finish in the top four. 

The win took Lumbini, the defending champions, to the first position in the table with 11 points from five wins and a No Result in seven games. 

Lumbini are currently followed by Sudurpaschim (10 points), Kathmandu (8 points) and Chitwan (7 points). While Kathmandu and Chitwan have a match in hand, a win will not be enough to leapfrog Lumbini.

Meanwhile, Sudurpaschim’s second place is not safe yet. Kathmandu are facing Pokhara Avengers under the floodlights on Sunday. Before that, Chitwan will play Karnali. A win for Kathmandu will see them finish second, while a win for Chitwan means that they will still stay fourth and Sudurpaschim third. 

Lumbini defeat Biratnagar  

Having lost the toss and invited to bat first, Biratnagar were able to post a defendable total of 166/4. 

Charith Asalanka (64 off 43) top-scored for the Kings with the help of six sixes and a four. He was followed by Shubham Ranjane (31 off 24), Imran Sheikh (24 off 29) and Lokesh Bam (15 off 17). The Kings also benefitted from 19 extras.

Kishor Mahato picked two wickets, while Ruben Trumpelmann and Abhishesh Gautam claimed one each for Lumbini.

However, the defence of 167 runs sat squarely uncomfortably with Biratnagar, with the defending champions never out of the chase.

Biratnagar had turned the tide in their favour when they took five wickets between the 12th and 17th overs. By the start of the penultimate over, the Lions still needed 33 to win from 12 deliveries, with five wickets in hand. In came the two Biratnagar pacers—Isuru Udana and Rupesh Singh—who conceded 17 runs each in the last two overs to hand the win to Lumbini.

Singh started the final over with a no-ball that was hit for a six, conceding only four runs in the next three balls. The balance seemed to have tilted momentarily when he took the wicket of Ali Sheikh (27 off 19) in the fourth. But with the incoming batsman Trumpelmann hitting the fifth ball for a maximum, Biratnagar were out of the tournament.

“It was a good total,” Asalanka said. “But we could not do well in the last 10 overs.”

D’Arcy Short and Aasif Sheikh, the openers of Lumbini, were crucial in the chase as they built an 86-run partnership for the first wicket before Short (45 off 38) departed in 11.5 overs. Aasif (45 off 41) was the fourth wicket to fall two overs later.

Niroshan Dickwella and Dilip Nath departed ducks, and skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel could only eke out 9 off 7. It was Ali (27 off 19) and Sundeep Jora (25 off 11) who steered Lumbini to 162/6 in 19.4 overs from 120/5 in 16.2.

“T20 is about momentum, which keeps shifting,” Jora said after the win. “We believed that we could win it, and we did.” 

Jora says that the Lions are now completely focused on keeping the trophy in Lumbini. 

“We have a team where every player is important and is performing their roles well for the wins,” he added. 

The Kings had many misfields to lament after the loss. The Lions, meanwhile, were more than happy to keep their hopes of retaining the title more alive than ever.