The way they started the season, Biratnagar Kings were termed as one of the favourites for the second season of the Nepal Premier League. They also entered the playoffs as one of the Top 2 teams to further cement the expectation. However, filled with some big names of the season, the Kings could not deliver when it mattered the most.

The Kings were destroyed by Lumbini Lions, who defeated Kathmandu Gorkhas in the Eliminator on Tuesday, in the Qualifier 2 fixture on Wednesday to get knocked out of the title race. It was an action replay of their Qualifier 1 match against Sudurpaschim Royals on Tuesday. It was the Kings’ second defeat to the Lions, having lost the league-stage fixture by five wickets on December 3.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the Kings were able to restrict the Lions to an average total of 134/8. But when their turn came to chase, the Kings were bundled out at a paltry 94 runs. They had suffered a similar defeat against the Royals in Qualifier 1, where they were all out for 78 runs while chasing 156.

“We had some great names in the squad,” Dhammika Prasad, the former Sri Lankan international who was in the role of a coach of Biratnagar for the second season, said after the loss. “The batters could not manage to score, and we lost.”

Two of the biggest names in the NPL, Martin Guptill and Faf du Plessis, opened for the Kings in the chase. But they failed. Guptill (2 off 3) was caught out in the cover region while trying a drive in the fifth ball of the first over, and in-at-three Lokesh Bam was struck leg before by Ruben Trumpelmann in the very next delivery for a golden duck.

Du Plessis, on the other hand, was clean bowled by spinner Sher Malla as the third wicket. With three wickets falling for only six runs on the board for the Kings, the subsequent batting order also collapsed with insufficient contributions.

It was Sam Heazlett, the former opener for the Kings who came down the order at four, who kept Biratnagar in the chase. He hit the first boundary of the Kings, a six, at 3.5 overs, which was followed by a four. Heazlett scored one more four and six before departing as the fifth wicket after contributing 34 off 28.

Marchant de Lange, the pacer, who came up the order to utilise his power to hit big, was the only other who scored another six for the Kings. De Lange (17 off 20) got stumped while trying to hit by coming up front. And there was only one other Kings batter who was able to cross the boundary line. Of the four sixes and four fours for the Kings in the chase, it was youngster Naren Bhatta who smashed two sixes and a four. Bhatta was the last wicket to fall for Biratnagar after adding 21 off 21.

All the five bowlers used by the Lions picked at least a wicket. While Malla was the one with one wicket under his belt, Trumpelmann, JJ Smit and Abhishesh Gautam bagged two each. Tilak Bhandar was the highest wicket taker for the Lions with three.

Before starting the chase, Kings’s skipper Sandeep Lamichhane, in a short interview during the innings break, had said that his team would complete the chase even if they had to take the game to the last over. But it did not come true as they were all out at 17.5 overs, that too without crossing the 100-run mark.

Meanwhile, the Lions also did not have a good time with the bat. After losing an early wicket in the form of opener Dinesh Adhikari (1 off 5), it was D’Arcy Short and skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel who built a 69-run partnership for the second wicket to take the score upwards.

But soon after Paudel (34 off 30) departed, Short (45 off 41), who was dropped by Pratish GC at 41, followed him. It was the 29 off 22 from Niroshan Dickwella, who departed as the seventh wicket, that saw the Lions’ total in three digits. With two duck outs—Sundeep Jora and Smit—for the Lions, it was Trumpelmann who stayed not out at 11 off 8 as the team posted 134 on the board at the end of 20 overs.

Subash Bhandari and GC bagged three wickets each for the Kings while Lamichhane picked two to take his individual wicket tally to 17.

The Lions had finished as the last team of the inaugural season with only one win in seven matches. But in the second season, they made a jealous comeback.

From winning their opening match against Chitwan Rhinos, the Lions had lost three consecutive matches against Karnali Yaks, Kathmandu Gorkhas and Sudurpaschim Royals. But they then bounced back again, defeating Pokhara Avengers, Biratnagar and Janakpur to book a place in the Top 4.

The Lions had lost their league match against the Royals, who are waiting for them in the final, by seven wickets and 10 balls remaining on November 27. They now aim to turn the tides on Saturday.

“We are the underdogs,” Short said after the win. “We will now focus on the final, win it and hold the trophy.”