The Kirtipur-based TU International Cricket Stadium erupts with joy whenever the team’s theme song is played, either after they bag wickets or hit boundaries.

‘Maidan ma tufan, Sudur ko saan (storm on the field, Sudur’s pride)’—the verse has been a regular fixture at the stadium whenever the far-western franchise is playing, backed up with probably the loudest and most passionate fans in the Nepal Premier League. And the cricket-crazy Sudur fans were once again given several reasons to dance to the rhythm on Thursday afternoon when the Royals put their winning streak to test against Lumbini Lions.

Royals, the runners-up of the inaugural season, were on equal footing with the far-eastern franchise, Biratnagar Kings, until Wednesday. However, the Kings tasted defeat for the first time this season after losing to Chitwan Rhinos by 48 runs, which put an end to their three-match unbeaten run.

But the Royals stayed as the only immortal team of the season defeating the Lions by seven wickets on Thursday, thanks to Binod Bhandari’s winning knock of 69 off 49. While it was Harmeet Singh (7 off 3) who completed the chase for Sudurpaschim in 18.2 overs, Sudur’s opener, wicketkeeper-batsman Bhandari, remained at the crease until he ensured the team’s fourth win in the tournament.

Winning the toss for the first time in four matches, skipper Dipendra Singh Airee invited the Lions to face their bowling attack. It was also the first time this season that the Royals were bowling first, and they capitalised on it as well.

The Lions were doing well until the end of the 14th over. They had lost the two openers—D’Arcy Short (18 off 11) and Sumit Maharjan (18 off 14)—and the team’s score was taken to the three digits by a 50+ partnership for the third wicket by skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel and wicketkeeper-batsman Dilip Nath. However, as the first ball of the 15th over was bowled by Hemant Dhami, Paudel attempted an unorthodox shot behind the stumps, but he got caught out by Bhandari after contributing 35 off 36. Gulbadin Naib (11 off 9) followed Paudel as he was also caught out by wicketkeeper Bhandari. And after Ruben Trumplemann departed for a duck getting runout by Airee’s direct throw, Nath (31 off 29) was also caught behind.

The last five Lumbini batters could only contribute 23 runs off the bat before the team was bundled out for 143 runs with two balls remaining in the first innings.

Abinash Bohara and Singh bagged three wickets each for the Royals, while Dhami picked two and Scott Kuggeleijn took one.

In turn, Sudurpaschim required only five batters to complete the chase. Abhishesh Gautam gave the Lions the first relief as Royals’ opener Josh Brown (9 off 7) was caught out in the second over, while experienced Chris Lynn (16 off 14) and Aarif Sheikh (39 off 37) also departed after being caught out. But as Bhandari stayed on the crease, thanks to some luck for his catches being dropped, keeping the scoreboard ticking, the Royals were never out of the chase.

Binod dissatisfied despite a good knock

Binod Bhandari is a known name in the Nepali cricket scene, having played the gentleman’s game for more than a decade. He was playing for the senior team when Nepal played their maiden T20 World Cup in 2014, which saw the Rhinos have their shortest-format match recognised as a T20I for the first time.

Since the first game of the 2014 World Cup, which was against Hong Kong on March 16, to their last T20I, which was against Samoa in the Asia & EAP Qualifier for the 2026 T20 World Cup on October 17 this year, Nepal have played 112 T20Is. Bhandari has been part of 40 of those T20Is, with his last coming against Papua New Guinea during the tri-nation friendly hosted by Hong Kong in March last year. But he was not part of the squad when the Rhinos played their second-ever T20 World Cup after a decade in June 2024.

Thus, when Bhandari, who had arrived as Janakpur’s representative to respond to media queries in the post-match conference after the win over Lumbini, was asked if he saw the NPL as the selection ground for the 2026 T20 World Cup being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February next year, the 35-year-old replied, “Who said it?”

“None of the top five batters from the 2025 Men’s PM Cup in March have been included in the senior squad,” Bhandari lamented. “Even though I had a good time in the recent PM Cups and the inaugural NPL last year, I was not even called for the closed camp. That’s why I don’t think this NPL is also a base for selecting the team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.”

Of the top six batsmen with most runs in the first season of the NPL, there were only two Nepalis. National team skipper Paudel was third in the list with 279 runs in seven innings, while Bhandari was sixth with 235 runs in nine innings. Bhandari was the third-most runscorer in the 2024 Men’s PM Cup. Of late, he is fourth in the list of batsmen with most runs in the second season of the NPL as well as the two seasons combined.

Third loss for Bolts, first win for Avengers

Except for their rivalry on the pitch, Janakpur Bolts and Pokhara Avengers were playing for their respective social cause on Thursday. As informed in their joint press meet on Wednesday, the Bolts were taking special steps to honour the sacrifices of mothers and the Avengers were intensifying their ‘Glaciers Matter’ campaign during their encounter on Thursday.

Janakpur players dressed up in a special pink jersey with their mothers’ names on the back, while the Avengers had ‘Glaciers Matter’ replacing their names in a special green jersey for their fixture. Still, rivals on the pitch, the two teams were playing their respective third match of the season, and both were aiming for their first win.

Janakpur, as the winners of the inaugural NPL, were considered one of the favourites for the second season. However, the title defenders have hit a rock bottom after suffering their third straight defeat of the season on Thursday. Pokhara handed Janakpur their third loss, defeating the defending champions by 25 runs.

The Avengers became the first team of the season to win the toss and elect to bat first, a decision which could prove costly as the bowlers were struggling in the later innings due to the dew factor. However, the decision favoured the brave.

Pokhara had a decent time batting first. They had a good powerplay and were wicketless at 40 runs. Until the end of the eighth over, they were at 59/0.

However, as USA’s Sanjay Krishnamurthi came to bowl his first spell of the match in the ninth over, he turned into a nightmare for Pokhara. Krishnamurthi got set Adam Rossington (24 off 17) caught out in the third ball of the over, and clean-bowled Pokhara’s skipper Kushal Bhurtel for a golden duck in the very next delivery. It took no time for the Avengers to spiral to 64/4 as Dinesh Kharel (38 off 38) and James Neesham (1 off 3) returned to the pavilion in no time. Neesham was Kirshnamurthi’s third victim of the match.

It was thanks to a 72-run fifth-wicket partnership between Sumeet Verma and Trit Raj Das that saw Pokhara settle down. When Das departed for 29 off 28 in 18.4 overs, Pokhara were 136/5. Verma, on the other hand, completed his half-century in just 29 deliveries and stayed not out to take the team total to a defendable 155/6.

Thousands of Janakpur fans, who were battling against thousands of Sudurpaschim fans who waited late to cheer for their arch rivals’ opponent, were hoping to see their team register their first win as the target was not massive. But that was not to be.

Before reaching the 100-run mark, Janakpur had eight of their batsmen back at the dugout. NPL debutant Maaz Sadaqat (20 off 14) and Krishnamurthi (25 off 20) were the only two of the top seven Janakpur batters to score in double figures. It was thanks to another NPL debutant, the experienced left-arm pacer Wayne Parnell’s batting that kept the Bolts in the game.

However, Parnell left the crease after completing his maiden fifty despite a leg injury sustained while he was at 48 and the Bolts’ hopes were shattered. The Bolts, who saw a couple of their players depart for some great catches from the Avengers, played all the 20 overs, but fell short of 25 runs.

“Our team’s mentality has taken a hit after consecutive losses,” Janakpur’s skipper Anil Kumar Sah said after the loss.

Bipin Khatri bagged four wickets for the Avengers, while Bhurtel and Neesham picked one each. Verma, the batting allrounder from Uganda, also took two wickets, and was adjudged the Player of the Match.

Chitwan Rhinos and Kathmandu Gorkhas, who are third and fourth in the points table respectively, will come face to face in the first match of Friday. It will be followed by Biratnagar Kings vs Karnali Yaks.